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UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA 


The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 
for  Education  in  England 


BY      r 

AMY  MARGARE':^ILBEKT 


A  THESIS 

PRESENTED  TO  THE  FACULTY  OF  THE  GRADUATE  SCHOOL 
IN  PARTIAL    FULFILLMENT  OF  THE  REQUIRBMKNTS 
FOR  THE  DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY 
IN  HISTORY 


FRANKLIN  REPOSITORY 

Printers  and  Publishers 

Chambersburg,  Pa. 

1922 


\ 


UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA 


The  Work   of   Lord   Brougham 
for  Education  in  England 


BY 
A:\IY  MAEGAREt  GILBERT 


A  THESIS 

PRESENTED  TO  THE  FACULTY  OF  THE  GRADUATE  SCHOOL 

IN  PARTIAL     FULFILLMENT  OF  THE  REQUIREMENTS 

FOR  THE  DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY 

IN  HISTORY 


FRANKLIN  REPOSITORY 

Printers  and   Publishers 

Chambersburg,  Pa. 

1922 


^^ 


t. 


k^ 


Copyright 

AMY  MARGARET  GILBERT 

1922 


y 


PREFACE 

It  has  been  said  that  an  age  that  has  ceased  to  be  irritated 
by  the  eccentricities  of  Lord  Brougham  is  prepared  to  be  in- 
terested in  small  details  about  him.  The  subject  of  this  thesis 
gives  opportunity  for  the  presentation  of  such  details  in  one 
of  the  many  fields  in  which  he  was  interested.  The  work  does 
not  profess  to  be  a  biography,  nor  does  it  deal  with  the  theory 
and  practice  of  education.  Its  object  is  to  trace  the  educa- 
tional work  of  this  prominent  man  in  the  proper  setting  of 
personal  history  and  the  conditions  of  the  time. 

Lord  Brougham's  exertions  in  the  cause  of  education  merit 
recognition.  He,  above  other  statesmen  of  his  time,  appre- 
ciated the  danger  arising  from  popular  ignorance.  He  suc- 
ceeded in  revealing  the  actual  educational  status  of  the  coun- 
try and  attracted  public  attention  to  the  subject. 

Every  branch  and  form  of  education  felt  his  influence.  His 
life,  extending  as  it  did  from  1  778  to  1868,  not  only  coin- 
cided with  the  evolution  of  a  national  system  of  elementary 
instruction,  but  for  many  years  presented  the  history  of  that 
evolution.  He  helped  establish  infant  schools;  he  w^as  the 
prom.oter  of  institutions  for  the  elevation  of  the  w^orking  man; 
he  founded  one  university  and  was  the  patron  of  others;  he 
advocated  the  repeal  of  the  "Taxes  on  Knowledge";  and  by 
means  of  a  proliBc  pen  he  did  all  in  his  pow^er  to  nm'cike  edu- 
cation accessible  to  all  classes.  He  propounded  schemes  for 
legislation,  which,  although  failing  of  adoption,  announced 
principles  later  to  be  embodied  in  the  more  successful  plans  of 
others.  And  when  it  became  expedient  to  yield  the  responsi- 
bility of  sponsoring  measures  he  did  not  cease  to  follow^  with 
an  active  interest  the  course  of  events. 

Due  to  the  nature  of  the  subject,  government  publications 
and  the  works  of  Lord  Brougham  have  been  the  main  sources. 


500329 

G 


n 


II  Preface 


Pamphlets  and  periodical  literature,  especially  for  the  record 
of  adult  education,  have  been  invaluable;  while  biography  and 
memoirs  have  contributed  interesting  comments  and  criticisms. 
I  desire  to  express  my  obligation  to  Prof.  Edward  P.  Chey- 
ney,  under  whose  direction  this  thesis  was  written,  and  to 
Prof.  William  E.  Lingelbach  for  their  encouragement  and 
helpful  criticisms  and  suggestions.  1  also  acknowledge  the  aid 
of  Mr.  Asa  D.  Dickinson  and  others  of  the  staff  of  the  Library 
of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Mr.  Bunford  Samuel 
and  Miss  E.  V.  Lamberton  of  the  Ridgway  Branch  of  the  Li- 
brary Company  of  Philadelphia. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  I 

INTRODUCTION 

A.  Early  Life  and  Intellectual  Interests  in  Edinburgh 1 

B.  The  British  and   Foreign  School  Society    5 

CHAPTER  II 
ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

A.  Select  Committee  on  Education,    1816    14 

B.  Select  Committee  on  Education,    1817 19 

C.  Select  Committee   on  Education,    1818,   and      the      Bill 

for  Charity  Corrumission,    1818    20 

D.  Charitable  Foundations  Bill,    1819 35 

E.  Bill  of  1 820 39 

CHAPTER  III 
THE  INFANT  SCHOOL 50 

CHAPTER  IV 
ADULT  EDUCATION 

A.  The  Mechanics'   Institute  and  the  Society  for      the  Dif- 

fusion  of  Useful   Knowledge    55 

B.  London  University 73 

CHAPTER  V 
EDUCATIONAL  PROGRESS 

A.  Grant  of  1833 79 

B.  Taxes  on  Knowledge 86 

C.  Resolutions  of   1835    89 

D.  Education  Bills  of   1837  &    1838    94 

E.  Committee  of  Privy  Council  on  Education 101 

F.  Bill  of   1839    105 

G.  The  Social  Science  Association Ill 

H.    Conclusion    114 

BIBLIOGRAPHY    116 


The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham  for 
Education  in  England 

CHAPTER  I 

INTRODUCTION 

A.      Early  Life  and  Intellectual  Interests  in  Edinburgh. 

When,  in  1805,  at  the  age  of  twenty  seven,  Henry  Brough- 
am came  to  London,  it  was  with  full  consciousness  that  he 
was  beginning  a  new^  chapter  of  his  life.  This  move,  which  to 
him  was  the  first  step  toward  a  political  career,  was  the  result 
of  a  prolonged  deliberation.  To  the  urgings  of  his  friends 
James  Loch  and  Francis  Horner  a  latent  discontent  had  made 
him  susceptible.  The  Scottish  bar  to  which  he  had  been 
called  as  an  advocate  in  I  800,  unattractive  from  the  first,  had 
become  more  odious  each  year.  Edinburgh  seemed  to  lack 
prospects  for  one  vsrho,  at  the  age  w^hen  a  sublime  success  is 
the  only  goal  contemplated,  knew  he  would  "rise  near  the  top 
in  the  end".  ' 

They  were  no  mean  talents,  the  direction  of  which  was  of 
so  much  concern  to  the  owner.  They  had  already  gained  a 
considerable  reputation  for  him.  From  childhood  he  had  w^on 
the  appellation  of  a  prodigy.  His  father,  an  Englishman,  up- 
on marriage  to  a  Scottish  lass  had  settled  in  Edinburgh.  Here 
Henry  grew  up  with  all  of  the  advantages  of  the  parish  school 
system  of  Scotland.  This  system  he  later  extolled  as  cherish- 
ing higher  objects  than  mere  learning  and  inculcating  a  nobler 
ambition  than  the  mere  acquisition  of  prosody  and  the  dead 
languages.  '  Moreover,  through  personal  association  with  his 
great  uncle.  Dr.  Adams,  head-master  of  the  high  school,  who 
was  a  sincere  and  warm  lover  of  liberty.   Brougham  early  be- 


'  Droiughlaim  amd  His  Eanly  Priemds,  II,  p.  34. 
-  Au(t)abii):(grtajpihy  of  Brtouigham,  III,  p.  9. 


The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 


gan  to  entertain  feelings  of  abhorrence  for  every  kind  of  op- 
pression. 

In  school  and  outside  he  manifested  an  insatiable  thirst  for 
knowledge  and  a  singular  aptitude  for  acquiring  it.  At 
twelve  he  was  reading  Laplace's  Mccanique  Celeste  in  French 
and  at  fourteen  he  entered  the  University  of  Edinburgh.  He 
delig'hted  in  the  study  of  mathematics  and  science  and  at 
eighteen  sent  a  paper  to  the  Royal  Society  on  "Experinnents 
and  Observations  on  .  .  .  Light",  w^hich  w^as  read  and  printed  in 
the  Society's  Transactions.  After  finishing  the  four  year 
course  of  humanity  and  philosophy  at  the  University  in  1  795 
he  began  to  read  law.  In  1  79  7  he  was  admitted  to  the  Specu- 
lative Society  of  Edinburgh,  vs^here  w^ith  Francis  Horner, 
Henry  Petty,  afterw^ards  Marquis  of  Lansdowne,  and  others 
he  distinguished  himself  in  lively  debates.  * 

From  the  first,  happy  over  any  opportunity  to  correct  his 
master  and  display  his  erudition,  these  new  evidences  of  dis- 
tinction fostered  an  unbounded  self-confidence.  His  life  of 
close  application  to  scholarly  pursuits  engendered  a  sense  of 
independence  which  contemned  the  ordinary  rules  of  life.  He 
could  work  from  morning  to  between  two  and  three  the  next 
morning  "as  cheerfully  as  if  it  were  all  pleasure  or  exercise".  * 
Recreation  was  indulged  in  with  the  same  restless  energy.  In 
college  days  he  w^as  the  ringleader  of  groups  w^ho  went  about 
twisting  off  door  knockers  and  delighting  in  riotous  sports. 

But  in  spite  of  prominence,  or  perhaps  for  that  very  reason. 
Brougham  was  not  happy.  He  felt  the  loneliness  of  conscious 
superiority  and  craved  the  companionship  of  a  sympathetic 
understanding.  In  the  letters  to  Loch  we  have  glimpses  into 
his  soul  which  are  rarely  allowed  later.  He  wrote,  August  20, 
1802,  that  Loch  was  the  only  person  he  could  unbosom  him- 
self to  '  and  again  that  he  liked  him  better  than  anyone     else. 


'  Diatiilonajry  National  Biograpliy. 

^  Br*oxighaim  and  His  Eairly  Friends,  I,  p.  364. 

'Ibid.,  I,  p.  364. 


for  Education  in  England 


man,  woman,  or  child/  The  very  composition  of  his  nature, 
however,  deprived  him  of  the  love  and  confidence  for  which 
he  yearned.  Cynical  in  attitude,  fond  of  display,  his  pride 
subjected  him  to  the  ruling  passion  of  dominance.  A  great 
discontent  had  made  him  its  victim  and  law  and  the  Parlia- 
ment house  were  becoming  more  distasteful  every  day.  "Noth- 
ing but  absolute  necessity  can  keep  me  at  it",  he  w^rote,  " — 
I  mean  the  total  want  of  a  substitute  for  it".  '  And  so  it  was  that 
in  study  he  constantly  sought  relief. 

"Study — Labour  of  the  mind — carried  to  such  an  excess  as 
to  become  labour  of  the  body  also.  This  is  the  business  of 
every  man  under  forty;  this  is  the  sw^eetest  of  all  works;  this  is 
the  most  light  of  all  burthens;  the  most  inva^luable  of  all  bless- 
ings. It  is  a  good  independent  of  all  the  ills  of  life,  supremely 
and  principally  our  own,  subject  to  no  fates,  times,  or  seasons, 
pleasant  in  itself,  and  quickly  and  surely  returning  a  plenteous 
harvest."  ' 

He  was  deep  in  The  Colonial  Policy  which  he  was  writing 
and  was  constantly  asking  Loch  to  look  up  books  for  him  and 
transact  business  with  his  publishers.  Then,  too,  as  if  by  the 
"chapter  of  accidents",  in  which  he  said  he  had  not  much  con- 
fidence, it  was  in  the  sunxmer  of  I  802  that  preparations  w^ere 
being  made  for  the  launching  of  the  Edinburgh  Review.  This 
work  w^as  to  contain  what  former  reviews  rarely  had,  disserta- 
tions on  the  subject  as  w^eli  as  accounts  of  and  criticisms  of  the 
articles  reviewed."  There  was,  at  first,  no  organized  staff  of 
editors,  Jeffrey,  Sydney,  Francis  Horner,  some  professors  of 
Edinburgh  University,  and  Brougham  being  the  contributors. 
With  its  refreshing  audacity  and  intellectual  opposition  to  es- 
tablished ideas  this  publication  was  a  most  appropriate  outlet 


'  Ibid.,  I,  p.  285. 

'  Ibid.,  I.  p.  238. 

«IblM.,  II,  D.  141. 

*  Autobiograiph.y  of  Broughiaim,  I,  p.  161. 


4  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

for  the  restlessness  of  Brougham.  To  the  first  number  he  con- 
tributed three  of  the  twenty  nine  articles  and  to  the  first  four 
numbers  twenty  one,  and  four  jointly  w^ith  others."  On  Janu- 
ary 28,  1803  he  wrote:  "Though  I  am  not  one  of  the  editors 
they  gave  of  their  tens  and  twenties  and  I  had  lit- 
erally to  Write,  I  may  say  the  whole"."  In  the  first  twenty 
numbers  he  had  as  many  as  eighty  articles.  It  was  this  review^ 
which,  as  the  organ  of  the  Whigs,  w^as  to  be  the  champion  of 
the  education  movement  in  England.  The  very  first  number 
contained  an  article  by  Horner  on  "Cristison's  General  Diffu- 
sion of  Knowledge,  One  Great  Cause  of  the  Prosperity  of 
Northern  Britain".  Brougham  w^as  to  use  it  as  his  chief  chan- 
nel for  publishing  his  views  on  the  subject,  and  as  his  instru- 
ment against  opposing  forces. 

And  so  it  was  that  on  November  7,  1  802  he  wrote  to  Loch 
that  the  Parliament  house,  his  book  and  the  Review  "will 
work  me  hard  this  winter,  but  thank  God  I  can  bear  any- 
thing".^' From  his  literary  pursuits  and  political  inquiries  he 
derived  considerable  satisfaction.  His  hope  of  ultimately  turn- 
ing himself  to  some  great  use  was  not  extinguished  and  in  the 
meantime  he  was  contented  not  to  "sink  to  the  muddy  bottom 
of  Scots  Law". 

For  What  the  change  should  be  was  a  great  question. 

"The  English  Bar  is  in  a  very  great  degree  tedious,  and  to 
say  the  least  of  it,  somewhat  uncertain.  1  look  forw^ard  with 
no  small  horror  to  five  years'  dull,  unvaried  drudgery;  which 
must  be  undergone  to  obtain  the  privilege  of  drudging  still 
harder,  among  a  set  of  disagreeable  people  of  brutal  manners 
and  confined  talents;  any  opening  abroad  seems  a  matter  of 
extreme  difficulty  at  present,  at  least  to  one  who  has  no  sort 
of  interest.  The  army  is  indeed  a  resource,  but  it  is  the  last, 
and  only  for  incurables;  besides,   I  have     been  too     long      of 


*»  Ibid.,  I,  p.  161. 

"  Brougih-am  lanid  His  Early  PV:ionid3,  II,  p.  32. 

"  IbM.,  II,  [p.  364. 


for  Fducatlon  in  England 


thinking  of  it.  For  the  same  reason  the  East  Indies  seems  out 
of  the  question;  and  any  civil  appointment  as  secretaryships, 
etc.,  in  the  West  Indies  is,  I  suppose,  as  difficult  to  be  procur- 
ed as  one  in  Europe I  leave  you   ILoch]   to  judge 

whether  study,  to  which  I  constantly  fly  for  occupation,  can  be 
of  any  great  relief.  It  is,  how^ever,  cheaper  than  dissipation, 
and  is  attended  with  some  improvement  w^hich  may  enable 
one  to  profit  by  the  chapter  of  accidents."  " 

But  in  1  803  he  had  sufficient  w^ill  power  to  choose  the  first 
of  these  alternatives.  He  w^as  entered  at  Lincoln's  Inn  and 
two  years  later  took  up  his  residence  in  London.  Here  he  read 
English  law^  and  supported  himself  mainly  by  writing  for  the 
Edinburgh  Review,  his  versatility  and  power  of  dispatch  stand- 
ing him  in  good  stead. 

B.      The  British  and  Foreign  School  Society. 

Life  in  London  offered  a  variety  of  interests  to  one  who 
had  an  insatiable  curiosity  about  all  things.  Primarily  inter- 
ested in  his  own  advancement,  it  was  with  eagerness  and  zeal 
that  he  sought  to  participate  in  the  questions  of  the  time  and 
any  movement  which  w^as  gaining  prominence. 

At  the  Borough  Road,  London,  there  was  flourishing  a  new 
phenomenon  in  education,  which  had  already  excited  the  at- 
tention of  the  King  and  nobility  and  had  aroused  the  Church 
of  England  from  its  indifference.  A  thousand  pupils  w^ere 
being  taught  reading  and  writing  and  arithmetic  under  the 
leadership  of  one  Joseph  Lancaster,  a  poor,  unpretentious 
Quaker.  Older  boys,  first  instructed  in  the  details  of  the  les- 
son by  the  master,  drilled  groups  of  pupils  entrusted  to  them. 
The  order  and  the  cheerfulness  of  the  school  and  the  military 
precision  of  the  teaching  had  from  the  beginning  attracted 
public  observation." 

London,  at  the  beginning  of  the  century,  was  caught  in  the 


"  Ibid.,  II.  p.  344. 
"  Binns,  p.  10. 


6  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

grip  of  the  Industrial  Revolution.  The  factory  system  was 
drawing  to  the  city  great  crowds  of  the  working  classes.  This 
sudden  growth  of  population  involved  the  increase  of  child 
labor.  Moral  evils  in  child  life  arose  and  a  generation  was 
springing  up  with  little  knowledge  on  any  subject  save  the  auto- 
matic skill  necessary  within  the  limits  of  daily  factory  w^ork. 
Before  1  803  only  one  twenty  first  of  the  population  of  Eng- 
land had  any  opportunity  for  instruction;''  in  1805  the  State 
had  actual  charge  of  200,000  children  of  paupers,  for  whose 
education  no  provision  was  made,'' 

Perhaps  no  country  had  as  many  ancient  institutions  for 
educational!  purposes  as  England;  and  yet,  with  proportionally 
the  greatest  means,  the  least  was  effected.  Wealthy  persons 
placed  their  children  first  under  a  tutor  or  in  a  private  school, 
then  sent  them  for  secondary  education  to  one  of  the  great 
public  schools  and  lastly  to  Oxford  or  Cambridge.''  For  the 
children  of  the  middle  classes  boarding  schools  and  day 
schools,  opened  on  private  speculation,  were  the  common 
medium  of  instruction.  Endowed  grammar  schools  consti- 
tuted a  very  insufficient  supply  for  them  and  infant  schools 
were  entirely  lacking. '^  Keeping  school  was  considered  a 
business  venture,  with  pecuniary  advantage  the  principal  ob- 
ject, and  the  establishments  flourished  or  went  to  ruin  ac- 
cording to  the  qualifications  of  the  master.  The  working 
classes  fared  worst.  There  was  little  possibility  for  their 
children  to  attend  a  grammar  school.  Although  originally 
intended  for  rich  and  poor,  the  endow^ments  had  not  obviated 
fees,  which  were  now^  prohibitive  to  the  poor.  Their  educa- 
tion was  chiefly  learning  to  read  and  w^rite  and  w^as  confined 
to  the  Sunday  Schools,  factory  schools,  schools     of     industry, 


"Hamsard,  II,  c.  49-89. 

"Adiaims,  p.  44. 

"  HM,  I,  202. 

"  ParHiamenitary  Papers,  Vol.  716. 


for  Education  in  England 


charity  schools  (either  endowed  or  unendowed),  and  dame 
schools.  " 

The  Sunday  School  movement  had  been  inaugurated  in 
I  780  by  Robert  Raikes.  As  the  number  of  day  schools  was 
much  too  small,  and  the  children  employed  for  six  days  in  the 
fields  and  manufactories  were  unable  to  attend  them,  the  idea 
of  having  schools  on  Sunday  was  conceived.  For  three  or 
four  hours  weekly  such  schools  were  open,  when  young  men 
and  w^omen  belonging  to  different  religious  congregations  vol- 
unteered their  services  to  teach  reading  and  occasionally 
w^riting  and  arithmetic. 

A  few  factories  had  schools  connected  with  them  before 
the  clause  in  the  Factory  Act  of  I  802  attempted  to  make  ele- 
mentary education  compulsory  for  apprentices.  But  this  pro- 
vision was  almost  an  entire  failure,  for  there  is  testimony  to 
show  that  only  six  of  the  two  thousand  mill-owners  made  any 
change  in  consequence  of  the  aOt.  "^  Certain  schools  of  indus- 
try existed  in  various  parts  of  the  country  where  children  were 
made  to  be  more  or  less  self-supporting  by  some  industrial 
occupation. 

There  were  endowed  charity  schools,  in  which  children  of 
the  poor  were  not  only  taught  but  sometimes  provided  with 
clothes.  Besides,  there  was  a  class  of  unendowed  charity 
schools,  which  had  been  established  in  the  preceding  century 
by  the  "Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Christian  Knowledge". 
In  most  of  them  education  seems  to  have  gone  no  further  than 
instruction  in  reading  the  Bible,  with  knowledge  of  the  Prayer 
Book  and  perhaps  writing.  "  Apart  from  general  inadequacy, 
abuses  and  misapplication  of  funds  restricted  their  influence 
to  narrow  limits. 

Children  who  were  too  young  to     work     were     sometimes 


i»  mil,  I,  p.  102. 
-"  Riauimer,  p.  405. 
"iHtiil'l,  I,  p.  102. 
"  Binnis,  p.  4. 


8  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

placed  in  charge  of  "dames"  or  of  men  physically  and 
mentally  unfit  for  efficient  service,  who  in  return  for  a  few 
penny  ifees  "kept  school"  in  their  kitchen,  sitting-room  or 
bedroom,  amid  the  scenes  of  domestic  occupations.  The 
highest  standard  attained  w^as  the  power  of  reading  a  little  in 
the  New^  Testament.  ' 

But  by  far  the  most  of  the  children  were  left  to  provide  for 
themselves  and  roam  the  streets  at  w^ill.  It  w^as  not  surprising, 
therefore,  that  w^hen  Joseph  Lancaster  began  to  gather  to- 
gether and  teach  the  waifs  of  his  neighborhood,  his  scheme 
met  with  encouragement  by  the  community  at  large.  For 
England  at  this  time  was  not  a  hard-hearted  and  indifferent 
nation.  This  was  an  age  of  philanthropy,  following  upon  one 
of  religious  revival.  '*  Although  the  policy  of  Icissez-faire  m 
matters  of  education  w^as  strictly  adhered  to  by  the  Govern- 
ment, a  group  of  thoughtful  men  and  w^omen  had  a  more  hu- 
nnane  social  outlook.  Elementary  education  w^as  looked  upon 
by  them  as  a  means  of  preventing  crime.  While  it  w^as 
thought  unw^ise  to  elevate  the  iower  orders  above  their  station 
in  life,  there  w^as  a  w^idespread  opinion  that  every  child 
should  be  taught  to  read  the  Scriptures,  and  the  King  in  his 
interview  w^ith  Lancaster  in  1805  expressed  the  desire  that 
every  poor  child  should  have  this  ability.  '' 

Royal  patronage  had  brought  fame  to  Joseph  Lancaster. 
Subscriptions  to  the  institution  had  been  begun  eariy  and  in 
I  806  a  published  list  showed  a  thousand  contributors.  But 
in  that  year  the  "Royal  Free  School",  as  it  Avas  then  called,  be- 
gan to  get  into  debt,  for  the  enterprise  had  been  greatly  ex- 
panded. "  As  his  youthful  teachers  had  become  more  trust- 
worthy Lancaster  had  found  himself  at  leisure  to  accept  in- 
vitations which  had  been  pouring  in  to  visit  various  localities. 


■^\P.  P.,  VioQ.  711. 

=*Doird  Joh.n  Rusis'eiM,  iby  Stmant  Rei'd,  p.  24. 

"'  Binins,  p.  13. 

'"Ibid.,  ip.  13. 


for  Education  in  England  9 

and  explain  his  methods.  In  this  way  many  new  schools  were 
established  and  placed  under  the  care  of  men  he  had  trained. 
But  he  was  lavish  in  his  expenditures  and  proved  himself  un- 
suited  to  the  public  responsibility  which  had  been  bestowed 
upon  him.  In  January  1 808,  w^hen  his  debts  had  reached 
£5000,  two  friends,  Joseph  Fox  and  William  Corston,  came  to 
his  aid,  and  together  constituted  "The  Royal  Lancastrian  As- 
sociation", of  which  the  three  were  to  be  the  managers.  By 
July  tw^o  other  names,  William  Allen  and  Joseph  Forster,  were 
added  to  the  committee;  and  before  the  end  of  1810  these 
men  deemed  it  necessary  to  greatly  extend  the  membership."' 

It  was  Henry  Brougham,  who  as  "an  old  friend"  was  con- 
sulted and  at  length  on  December  1  4,  in  Lancaster's  absence, 
a  meeting  of  influential  supporters  was  held  at  the  Thatched 
House  Tavern  in  St.  James'  Street  with  Brougham  in  the 
chair. "'  A  committee  of  forty-seven  was  appointed  to  raise  the 
necessary  funds.  The  Duke  of  Bedford  and  Lord  Somerville 
were  presidents  and  Brougham,  Whitbread,  Wilberforce,  Sam- 
uel Romilly,  Francis  Horner,  Thomas  Clarkson  and  James 
Mill  were  among  the  members.^ 

By  this  time  Brougham  had  become  an  eminent  figure  and 
his  definite  public  support  meant  much  to  the  movement.  He 
was  a  frequent  visitor  at  Holland  House  and  had  early  been 
introduced  into  the  political  society  of  the  time.  His  connec- 
tion with  the  Whig  press  had  assured  his  position  with  that 
party  and  in  1  806  as  a  mark  of  favor  he  had  been  appointed 
secretary  to  Lords  Rosslyn  and  St.  Vincent  on  their  mission  to 
the  court  of  Lisbon.*'  In  November,  1  808  he  had  been  called 
to  the  bar  and  had  joined  the  northern  circuit,  with  no  great 
enthusiasm  for  the  profession,  but,  as  his  biographer  Campbell 
states,  he  had  sufficiently  "legalised  his  mind  "      to  deal     with 


"  Ibiid.,  p.  20. 

"  Hansard,  3  S.,  XXXIX,  c.  448. 

"  Binnis,  p.  51. 

^^  DLotioinary  of  Naitionial  Biogirapiliy. 


1 0  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

the  cases  that  came  before  him.  Then  in  1  8  1  0  he  entered 
ParHament,  having  been  given  the  seat  for  Camelford,  which 
was  entirely  within  the  patronage  of  the  Duke  of  Bedford." 

Lancaster  was  aware  that  his  work  was  now  in  the  hands 
of  men  of  greater  power  than  he;  the  group  of  friends  had 
become  a  public  society.  As  a  strict  line  had  to  be  drawn  be- 
tw^een  his  private  and  public  work,  he  became  exasperated 
and  established  a  separate  school  at  Tooting.  But  he  soon 
had  to  appeal  for  more  aid  and  it  was  then  decided  to  sepa- 
rate the  association  entirely  from  his  interference  and  manage- 
ment. 

Meetings  were  held  in  1813  in  Kensington  Palace  and  a 
constitution  and  by-laws  were  draw^n  up  by  Francis  Place.^" 
On  May  21,  1814  the  title  was  changed  to  "The  British  and 
Foreign  School  Society".  Brougham  moved  the  resolution 
for  the  formation  of  the  society  and  explained  the  object  it 
was  to  have  in  view.'^ 

From  the  first  it  was  the  purpose  of  the  committee  to  pro- 
vide schools  all  over  the  country  on  an  inclusive  religious 
basis.  They  should  be  established,  supported  and  managed 
by  local  people,  but  the  society  w^ould  guarantee  their  main- 
tenance, assisting  them  from  its  own  treasury  w^henever  a  tem- 
porary stringency  in  local  funds  might  occur.  The  only  re- 
striction w^as  that  the  schools  w^ere  to  give  no  denominational 
teaching.  Church  folk,  Dissenters,  Roman  Catholics  and  Un- 
itarians were  a;ll  to  be  received.'^     Brougham  had      told     Wil- 


"  Aiufbab^ilograp'hy  jof  Brougliam,  I,  339. 

^'Biinnls,  p.  65. 

»'  Hansard,  3  S.,  XXII,  c.  543. 

^^  Terms  oif  adinilitelslilo'n  to  Union  as  given  by  the  secreta/ry  to  the  Edu- 
cation. Ciomimiiibtee  of  Ithe  House  of  Commoas: 

"If  laniy  parity  or  panties  lin  any  given  town  wisih  tO'  esitaMish  a 
isiChiaol  in  oonnecfiion  with  the  Britiisih  and  Foreign  School  Society  and 
oomimiunlicate  to  ithait  ^eififect,  the  ootmiroiittee'  generally  will  aid  them 
by  a  granlt  of  schood  niialterials,  by  ;trai.ning  for  them  a  teacher,  and 
s.ametimie(si  by  a  small  donation;  the  only  coiniditioa  enjoined  beSng, 
that  (tlhiey  ishiail  adopt  the  gineat  leadiing  principle  of  the    isioctiiety,    viz. 


fot   Education  in  Engiand  1  1 

liam  Allen  that  he  would  "blow  up  the  whole  Lancastrian 
concern  if  he  should  find  a  tendency  for  converting  it  into  an 
instrument  of  bigotry  and  superstition".'^ 

The  society  had  been  sponsored  for  the  most  part  by  Whigs 
and  Dissenters.  In  the  face  of  this  activity  the  Church  became 
concerned  and  decided  that  its  influence  had  to  be  combat- 
ted.  To  this  end  in  1811  "The  National  Society  for  Promot- 
ing the  Education  of  the  Poor  in  the  Principles  of  the  Estab- 
lished Church"  was  founded,  taking  over  the  educational 
work  of  the  old  "Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Christian 
Knowledge".  Children  of  all  denominations  were  admitted, 
but  all  were  obliged  to  receive  instruction  in  the  liturgy  and 
catechism  of  the  Established  Church  of  England  and  were  re- 
quired to  attend  its  prayers  and  services.'  Churchmen  were 
exhorted  to  support  their  own  schools  and  an  intense  rivalry 
betw^een  the  tw^o  societies  ensued. 

Although  a  Churchman,  Brougham  did  not  desert  the  first 
camp.  He  became  one  of  the  vice-presidents  and  continued 
to  hold  the  position  until  his  death.  In  1820  differences  of 
opinion  were  partially  to  estrange  him  from  the  society  but 
the  bonds  of  fellowship  w^ere  never  broken,  and  he  even  took 
the  chair  at  the  annual  meeting  in  1835.'' 


thait  the  sdiiaol  shall  be  open  on  equal  terms  to  all  religioais  demomma- 
tions,  and  ithat  no  oatechiams  oir  creed  shall  be  lintroduoed.  Thoise  are 
the  only  terms  required."         HiM,  I,  p.  59. 

^Wallais,  Life  of  Francis  Place,  p.  109. 

'"  Fo'rm  af  appllioatian  for  admi^isilon  to  the  Uniion  as  given  by  the 
secretary  before  'the  Education  Committee  'cf  the  House  oif  Com- 
mons : 

"In  these  islclhools  the  Niatiooial  siysitem  of  teaching  wiiiU  -be  adapted  as 
far  as  is  praotacable.  The  children  will  be  ins-troioted  in  the  Liturgy 
and  Catechisim  of  the  Esitaiblisihed  Church,  and  constantly  atte^nd  di- 
vine oerviice  at  their  parish  church,  o-r  dther  place  of  worsihip  under 
the  establ'is'hment,  uniless  such  reasons  be  asisiigned  foir  their  nicmat- 
tendance  as  lare  satiisifcltory  to  the  persons  having  the  idinedtioin  of 
the  sioboiols.  No  relligious  tracts  wall  be  used  in  the  ischoioilis,  'but  such 
as  are  contained  in  the  cataJlO'gue  of  the  Socieity  'fi^ir  Promoting 
Christian  Knowledge.  Annuall  or  other  communications  on  'their 
state  and  progresis  will  be  made,  as  requireid  by  -the  praotice  of  the 
Naitional  Society."  Hilll,  I,  p.  59. 


1 2  Tl^e  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

The  rivalry  of  the  societies  was  made  more  acute  by  the 
controversy  over  the  origin  of  the  monitorial  system.  The 
schools  of  the  National  Society  were  carried  on  in  accordance 
with  the  ideas  of  Dr.  Andrew^  Bell,  and  monitors  w^ere  used. 
The  tw^o  societies  were  soon  involved  in  a  hot  dispute  as  to 
whether  Lancaster  or  Bell  was  the  author  of  this  method. 
Much  w^as  written  and  the  dispute  did  a  great  deal  to  make 
more  prominent  the  whole  venture  in  education.  Brougham's 
ow^n  opinion  w^as  that  if  Dr.  Bell  w^as  the  inventor  of  the  sys- 
tem it  was,  as  far  as  he  was  concerned,  a  hidden  invention, 
which  had  never  shed  a  blessing  on  mankind  and  that  Joseph 
Lancaster  was  the  first  person  who  taught  schools  in  Eng'land 
in  a  practical  way  on  that  plan.  '^ 

The  societies  were  for  many  years  the  chief  means  for  the 
^i  establishment  of  schools  for  the  laboring  classes.  The  bond 
which  hdld  the  schools  of  each  together  w^as  entirely  depend- 
ent on  their  ow^n  discretion  and  the  similarity  of  the  principles 
w^hich  they  adopted.  On  the  other  hand,  it  included  neither 
dependence,  superintendence,  scientific  direction,  nor  any 
form  of  regulations.'" 

From  the  first,  Broug'ham's  interest  in  the  cause  of  educa- 
tion had  been  genuine.  A  person  of  scholarly  habits,  to  w^hom 
the  cultivation  of  his  ow^n  mind  had  seemed  "the  most  in- 
valuable of  all  blessings ',  appreciated  the  value  of  learning. 
What  impressed  him  was  that  the  children  of  the  poor  w^ere 
grow^ing  up,  by  hundreds  and  thousands,  untaught,  undisci- 
plined and  uncivilized,  graduating  almost  inevitably  in  vice 
and  crime."'  The  happy  effects  of  the  diffusion  of  knowledge 
he  deemed  to  be,  "to  improve  the  habits  of  the  people,  to  bet- 
ter their  principles  and  to  amend  all  that  which  we  call  their 
characters".  " 


*'  Dinnis,  p.  102. 

^'  Hansard,  3  S.,  XXII,  c.  843. 

^^  Raumer,  p.  405. 

"  Dinnis,  p.  287. 


for  Education  in  England  1  3 

Up  to  this  time,  however,  his  furtherance  of  education  had 
teen  but  one  of  the  many  projects  of  a  busy  opportunist. 
But  his  association  with  the  British  and  Foreign  School  Society 
had  made  him  realize  the  inefficacy  of  all  that  was  being  done. 
Endowments,  the  societies,  and  individuals  were  all  working 
with  no  relation  between  them,  no  independent  test  of  their 
work,  no  control  over  them  if  they  failed  in  the  performance 
of  their  tasks.  Brougham  saw^  the  challenge  w^hich  the  situa- 
tion offered.  In  a  letter  to  Wakefield,  February  20,  1814, 
Place  observed  that  he  was  "one  of  the  few^  who  saw^  the 
whole  scope  and  extent  of  w^hat  it  may  lead  to"." 

It  w^as  a  time  w^hen  the  education  of  the  masses  was  put 
upon  the  defensive.  Whitbread  in  1807  had  introduced  a 
bill  in  Parliament  to  found  a  school  in  every  parish  with 
pow^er  to  employ  the  local  rates.  Although  passing  the  House 
of  Commons,  it  was  defeated  in  the  House  of  Lords,  for  it 
met  the  prejudices  of  men  w^ho  thought  it  expedient  to  keep 
the  people  in  a  state  of  ignorance,  and  who  were  alarmed 
lest  false  notions  in  politics  and  religion  be  spread  throughout 
the  country.^^ 

The  subject  was  an  old  one  but  Brougham  was  to  be  the 
first  politician  to  make  the  cause  his  ow^n.  The  popularization 
of  knowledge  w^as  to  be  his  own,  sole,  almost  unaided  act. 
While  stimulating  to  popular  patriotism,  it  was  as  a  gift  placed 
by  fortune  in  the  w^ay  of  this  young  and  ambitious  man.  For 
many  years  he  was  to  be  the  motive  force  for  the  improvement 
of  education  in  all  its  forms  and  branches.  He  set  to  w^ork  to 
give  the  subject  thorough  examination  deprecating  any  rash 
entrance  upon  a  w^holesale  plan  of  reform  and  preferring,  on 
the  score  of  practicability,  a  more  gradual  change. 


"  Brougham's  Opiniianis  on  Educatiion,  ed.  by  J.  O.  Taylor,  p.  12. 
"WiaJllais,  Life  of  Frtanicils  Place,  p.  96. 
*'  Romiiilily  Memaiirs,  II,  p.  207. 


14  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

CHAPTER  II 
ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

A.     Select  Committee  on  Education,  1S16. 

After  being  out  of  Parliament  since  September  1812, 
Brougham  was  given  the  seat  for  Winchelsea  by  Lord  Dar- 
lington in  July  1815/  Immediately  upon  his  return,  he  began 
to  set  in  motion  some  machinery  for  the  furtherance  of  edu- 
cation of  the  poor  in  London."  He  called  the  attention  of  the 
House  to  the  fact  that  the  individuals  who  had  for  some  time 
associated  w^ith  a  view^  to  promote  education  had  discovered 
in  the  course  of  their  inquiries  scenes  of  ignorance,  ac- 
companied by  misery  and  vice,  that  were  shocking  to  contem- 
plate. He  estimated  that  of  the  population  of  1,050,000  in 
London,  according  to  the  last  census,  no  less  than  200,000 
children  were  destitute  of  the  means  of  education.  However 
meritorious  the  National  Society  and  the  British  and  Foreign 
School  Society  were,  supported  as  they  were  solely  by  volun- 
tary contributions  and  spontaneous  zeal,  they  were  not  likely 
to  accomplish  nauch  toward  the  removal  of  the  ignorance 
which  existed.  His  proposition  was  that  a  measure  for  the 
education  of  the  poor  under  parliamentary  sanction  and  with 
parliamentary  aid  should  be  tried  in  London;  for  without  a 
previous  experiment  he  woulld  not  deem  it  proper  to  bring  for- 
ward any  general  measure.  But  if  the  experiment  should  be 
found  to  succeed,  he  would  then  recommend  the  extension 
of  the  plan  to  some  other  great  towns,  as  Manchester  and  Sal- 
ford.  He  also  urged  the  propriety  of  establishing  a  school 
for  the  preparation  of  school  masters,  in  order  that  benevo- 
lent individuals  about  to  establish  schools  might  know  where  to 
apply  for  duly  qualified  teachers.  But  throughout  the  ar- 
rangement for  public  education  which  he  hoped  to  see  estab- 


^  Auitobiiograjpliy  of  Broughiajm,  II,  p.  7. 
=  Hansard,  XXXIV,  c.  633. 


for  Education  in  England  1  5 

lished,  he  trusted  that  nothing  would  be  admitted  offensive  to 
any  religious  opinions,  and  that  care  would  be  taken  that 
nothing  be  allowed  to  interfere  with  the  just  privileges  of  the 
national  establishment.  He  would  be  willing  to  take  a  model 
from  the  plan  of  education  established  in  Ireland  with  the 
support  of  the  Government. 

He,  therefore,  moved  that  a  committee  be  appointed  to  in- 
quire into  the  education  of  the  low^er  orders  of  the  metropolis, 
to  report  observations  and  minutes  of  evidence  from  time  to 
time  and  to  send  for  persons,  papers  and  records.'  There  was 
no  opposition  and  on  May  21,  1816  a  committee  was  ap- 
pointed with  Brougham  as  chairman  and  twenty  five  other 
members,  among  whom  w^ere  Sir  Samuel  Romilly,  Sir  James 
Mackintosh,  Mr.  John  Smith,  Mr.  Wilberforce,  Mr.  Francis 
Horner,  Mr.  Lamb  and  Sir  Francis  Burdett. 

Two  days  later  an  instruction  was  added  that  they  should 
consider  what  might  be  done  with  respect  to  the  children  of 
paupers  who  w^ere  found  begging  in  the  streets  in  and  near 
London  or  who  w^ere  carried  about  by  persons  asking  charity, 
and  who  had  not  been  sent  to  any  of  the  schools  provided  for 
the  education  of  poor  children.^ 

The  committee  was  organized  the  day  after  the  appoint- 
ment and  at  once  began  to  exert  its  powers  with  much  activ- 
ity. The  follo^ving  circular  letter''  w^as  addressed  to  between 
eighty  and  ninety  masters  of  the  various  charity  schools  in 
London. 

"Committee  on  the  Education  of  the  Lower     Orders, 
June  4th,    1816. 
Sir. 

I  Have  to  require  that  you  will  furnish  me  with  Answers  to 
the  following  Queries,  with  as  little  delay  as  possible: 

1  St.  What  is  the  nature  of  the  School  with  w^hich  you  are 
connected  ? 


'  Journal  df  GH.  of  iC,  Vol,  71,  p.  38(1. 
*  Ibid.,  Vol.  71,  p.  386. 
» P.  P.,  Vol.  408.  p.  313. 


1 6  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 


2nd.      How  many  Children  arfe  educated  there? 
3rd.      What  are  they  taught? 

4th.       Is  the  new  method  of  teaching   [monitorial]   adopted? 
5th.      Are  they  clothed  and  boarded? 

6th.  What  is  the  Expense?  distinguishing  the  Master's, 
Mistress's,  and  other  Salaries. 

7th.  What  are  the  Funds,  and  how  do  they  arise?  Specify 
the  particulars  of  the  last  year's  Income. 

8th.  What  old  Foundation  Schools  are  there  in  your  Par- 
ish; how  are  they  endowed;  how  many  do  they  teach;  and 
what  are  their  Expenses,   distinguishing  Salaries? 

9th.  Can  you  estimate  the  Number  of  poor  Children  in 
your  Parish  who  are  without  the  means  of  Education? 

10th.  Do  the  Parents  of  such  Children  show  any  reluctance 
to  have  them  educated? 

I  have  to  require  that  you  will  address  your  Answer  to  me, 
at  the  Select  Committe  on  the  Education  of  the  Lower  Or- 
ders, House  of  Commons. 

I  am  your  obedient  Servant, 

H.  BROUGHAM, 

Chairman.  ' 

Answers  to  this  letter  were  received  and  in  addition  heads 
of  schools  and  other  w^itnesses  were  brought  before  the  com- 
mittee. Brougham  sat  in  the  chair  for  three  hours  daily  and 
personally  conducted  this  inquiry.'  Great  labor  w^as  involved 
in  sifting  the  evidence  as  to  the  number  and  condition  of  the 
schools  destined  for  the  low^er  orders.  Also,  "conceiving, 
though  the  commission  under  which  they  acted  did  not  neces- 
sarily lead  them  to  any  inquiries  concerning  the  management 
of  the  higher  schools,  yet  that  it  authorized  them  to  include 
these  schools  at  their  discretion;  and  conceiving  likewise  that 
some  reports  that  had  gone  abroad  concerning  them  required 
either  to  be  confirmed  or  disapproved",  they  called  before 
them  the  officers  and  heads  of  the  Charterhouse,  Christ's  Hos- 
pital and  Westminster  and  examined  them  accordingly.' 


•  HajnsajTd,  3  S.,  XX,  c.  170. 
'Ibid.,  XXXrV,  0.  1230. 


for  Education  in  England  1  7 

In  addition,  no  sooner  was  it  widely  known  that  some  kind 
of  education  committee  had  been  appointed  in  Parliament 
than  communications  from  various  parts  of  the  country  came  in 
stating  instances  of  abuse  of  charitable  donations  and  other 
funds  for  the  instruction  of  the  poor. 

On  June  7,  1816  the  committee  made  a  first  tentative  re- 
port.' They  had  learned  "that  a  very  large  number  of  poor 
children  are  wholly  without  the  means  of  Instruction,  although 
their  parents  appear  to  be  generally  very  desirous  of  obtaining 
that  advantage  for  them"  and  observed  "the  highly  beneficial 
effects  produced  upon  all  those  parts  of  the  Population,  which, 
assisted  in  whole  or  in  part  by  various  Charitable  Institutions, 
have  enjoyed  the  benefits  of  Education".  Already,  on  ac- 
count of  the  number  of  communications  from  the  country  at 
large,  they  were  of  the  opinion  that  Parliament  should  as 
speedily  as  possible  institute  an  inquiry  into  the  management 
of  charitable  donations  and  other  funds  for  the  instruction  of 
the  poor  of  the  whole  country,  and  they  thought  that  the  most 
effectual,  as  well  as  least  expensive,  mode  of  conducting  such 
an  inquiry  would  be  by  means  of  a  parliamentary  commission. 

Brougham  reported  that  a  committee  above  stairs  was  in- 
adequate for  the  task,  as  it  could  not  examine  on  oath,  and  as 
it  would  be  impossible,  or  very  expensive,  to  call  up  persons 
from  all  parts  of  the  country  to  give  evidence.  The  only 
remedy  was,  to  appoint  a  commission  with  power  to  go  from 
place  to  place,  and  examine  witnesses  on  the  spot.  More 
money  would  be  saved  to  the  country  than  would  be  expend- 
ed. The  commission  should  be  paid  as  the  only  means  of  en- 
suring its  activity  and  bringing  it  under  the  control  of  the 
House.  The  business  required  dispatch,  and  dispatch  or  dili- 
gence could  not  be  enforced  upon  gratuitous  commissi  oners.* 


'P.  P.  Viol.  408,  p.  Mi. 
Hamsiamd,  XXrv,  c.  1230. 


18  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

On  June  1  3  ""  and  June  1  9  "  Brougham  presented  further  ev- 
idence and  on  June  20'"  made  the  fourth  and  final  report  be- 
fore the  close  of  the  session.  120,000  children  in  London  were 
found  to  be  without  means  of  education,  and  this  deficiency 
was  not  confined  to  children  of  one  description  of  people  or 
another,  but  extended  to  all  sects  and  all  kinds  of  persons  in 
the  lower  orders.  Although  the  poor  in  general  were  anxious 
for  education,  in  some  cases  parents  preferred  to  let  their 
children  out  to  common  beggars  rather  than  send  them  to 
school.  From  2,000  to  4,000  children  were  in  this  situation. 
In  such  cases,  it  was  suggested  that  forcible  interference  be- 
tween parent  and  child,  w^hose  morals  the  parent  was  corrupt- 
ing, might  be  resorted  to. 

The  number  of  charity  and  parish  schools  exceeded  any- 
thing that  could  have  been  previously  believed,  and  was 
highly  creditable  to  the  benevolence  of  the  country.  Even  at 
a  season  of  general  distress,  the  funds  derived  from  contribu- 
tions for  education  had  been  found  undiminished.  '' 

Of  the  establishments  created  by  public  donations  no  in- 
stances of  flagrant  abuse  were  discovered  in  London.  In  the 
case  of  schools  upon  endowed  foundations,  however,  the  com- 
mittee was  forced  often  to  acknowledge  and  lament  that  the 
expenditure  of  the  funds  had  "neither  been  so  pure  nor  so  ju- 
dicious as  the  intentions  of  the  contributors  were  laudable  and 
fervent.  Instead  of  being  employed  in  educating  great  num- 
bers with  the  great  sums  raised,  those  who  managed  expended 
them  in  boarding,  dlothing  and  bringing  up  a  few,  leaving  the 
rest  totally  without  the  means  of  education."  For  this 
Brougham  feared  no  remedy  could  be  expected  from  legis- 
lative interference,  as  the  funds  were  managed  by  trustees 
w^ho  objected  to  any  change  and  had  interest  in  the     contin- 


'»P.  P.,  Voll.,  408,  p.  107. 
"  Ibid.,  Vol.  408,  p.  165. 
"Ibild.,  Vol.  408,  p.  271. 
"  Hansard,  XXXIV,  c.  1230. 


for  Education  in  England  19 

uance  of  the  system.  Discussion  and  investigation  by  a  com- 
mission, however,  would  be  a  warning.  He  estimated  that  a 
sum  of  £18,000,  distributed  among  a  certain  number  of 
charitable  establishments,  which  educated  and  clothed  only 
3,000  children,  would  under  the  new  plan  be  sufficient  to  ed- 
ucate 30.000. 

The  committee  surmised  that  the  country  at  large  would 
probably  require  no  grants  from  Pai^liament  for  the  purpose 
of  advancing  education,  but  it  was  their  opinion  that  London 
would.  Assistance,  however,  should  not  be  communicated  as 
an  annual  grant,  but  merely  in  aid  of  private  charity,  to  build 
schools  and  to  prepare  rooms. 

A  great  difficulty  was  the  avoidance  of  religious  differences. 
An  emulation  in  well-doing,  rather  than  a  contention  for  su- 
periority was  hoped  for. 

B.      Select  Committee  on  Education,  1817. 

Brougham  had  given  notice  "  that  early  in  the  next  session 
he  would  bring  the  matter  of  the  report  before  the  House. 
Pursuant  to  this  notice,  on  May  22,  181  7,  he  moved  for  the 
revival  of  the  former  committee.  ^"  He  stated  that  a  great 
deal  of  the  evidence  that  was  taken  w^as  necessarily  ex  parte, 
and  was  therefore  susceptible  of  correction  and  revision;  and 
it  was  desirable  to  afford  an  opportunity  for  obtaining  that 
correction,  on  the  part  of  the  witnesses,  by  another  investiga- 
tion. The  motion  was  agreed  to  and  the  same  committee, 
with  the  omission  of  four  members  and  the  addition  of  one, 
w^as  appointed.  Testimony  was  made  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons" to  the  zeal,  knowledge  and  indefatigable  exertions 
manifested  by  Brougham  in  the  production  of  the  report 
which  he  submitted  July  7,  1817.'  On  account  of  accidental 
circumstances  not  much  progress  had  been  made     in  the     in- 


"  IhTd.,  XL,  10.  1300. 
'"  IMd.,  XXXVI,  c.  822. 
^'IblM.,  XXXVI,  c.  1303. 
"  P.  P.,  vol.  408,  p.  325. 


20  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

quiry  before  Parfiament  was  dissolved,  but  the  committee 
recommended  that  the  subject  should  be  taken  up  early  in 
the  next  session,  and  they  were  of  the  opinion  that  it  would 
be  expedient  to  extend  the  instructions  so  as  to  embrace  an 
inquiry  into  the  education  of  the  lower  orders  generally 
throughout  England  and  Wales. 

C.      Select  Committee  on  Education,   1818,     and     the     Bill 
for  Chanty  Commission,  1818. 

On  March  5,  1818,  practically  the  same  committee  was  re- 
vived with  the  more  extensive  pow^ers  of  inquiring  into  the 
education  of  the  lower  orders  in  England  and  Wales,  ''  and, 
on  May  8,  1818,  the  instruction  was  extended  to  include 
Scotland.  "  In  moving  for  the  appointment  of  the  committee. 
Brougham  called  attention  to  the  annual  grant  s^ven  by  Par- 
liament to  the  Irish  charter  schools  since  the  date  of  the  union, 
seldom  less  than  £40,000,  and  hoped  that  Parliament  would 
see  the  propriety  of  bestowing  some  money  for  a  similar  pur- 
pose in  England.  But  he  trusted  that  whatever  assistance  Par- 
liament might  grant,  would  be  given  w^ith  great  temperance 
and  w^ith  the  utmost  precaution.  To  this  the  committee  would 
probably  first  give  attention,  and  next  it  would  consider  the 
expense  that  would  be  requisite  in  the  first  instance  and  what 
part  of  it  might  fall  ultimately  on  the  country.  He  was  con- 
vinced that  this  ultimate  sum  would  be  very  small,  for  there 
existed  throughout  the  country  large  funds  bequeathed  by  in- 
dividuals for  all  purposes  of  charity,  and  particularly  for  the 
education  of  the  poor.  These  funds  had  in  many  cases  been 
grossly  misapplied.  There  had  been  hardly  a  day  in  the  two 
years  since  the  matter  first  attracted  public  attention  in  which 
he  had  not  received  an  account  of  some  misapplication — of 
schools  founded  or  meant  to  be  founded,  two  hundred  years 
ago  perhaps,  for  which  purposes  lands  yielding  a  considerable 


"  Bamsard,  XXXVII,  .c.  815. 

"  Jiauirniaa  of  H.  of  C,  Vol.  73,  p.  330,  May  8.  1818. 


for  Education  in  England  2 1 

revenue  were  bequeathed,  while  in  one  place  only  a  few 
children  were  taught,  and  in  another  none.  But  before  adopt- 
ing any  measures  for  turning  the  funds  for  education  to  the 
best  account  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  have  accurate  in- 
formation as  to  the  circumstances  of  each  endowment.  ""  He, 
therefore,  anticipated  a  recommendation  to  Parliament  to 
adopt  a  plan  of  education  for  the  poor  throughout  the  coun- 
try, and  to  appoint  a  parliamentary  commission  to  investigate 
the  misapplication  of  charitable  funds  destined  for  the  educa- 
tion of  the  poor.  He  thought  it  desirable,  also,  that  a  similar 
measure  shoulld  be  adopted  for  inquiring  into  the  general  mis- 
application of  all  charitable  foundations.  " 

The  first  report  of  the  committee  was  made  March  1  7, 
1818,  as  follows: '' 

"Your  committee  are  proceeding  in  the  further  considera- 
tion of  the  Subject  referred  to  them;  but  in  the  meantime  they 
recommend  the  bringing  in  a  Bill  for  appointing  Commission- 
ers to  inquire  into  the  Abuses  of  Charities  connected  with  the 
Education  of  the  Poor,  in  England  and  Wales;  that  no  unnec- 
essary delay  may  take  place  in  prosecuting  this  Investigation." 

The  necessity  for  such  a  measure  had  long  been  apparent. 
Abuses  in  the  management  of  charitable  endowments  were 
glaring  but  they  had  not  been  properly  denounced.  Trustees 
had  insufficient  pow^ers  for  profitable  management  or  they 
were  not  able  to  turn  the  land  to  the  best  account.  There 
were  defects  in  the  original  constitution  of  the  trusts,  and  a 
consequent  extinction  in  many  cases  of  the  trustees,  without 
the  possibility  of  supplying  their  places.  In  many  cases  the 
funds  were  rendered  absolutely  useless  by  being  withheld 
from  the  purposes  for  Which  they  were  designed,  while  in  oth- 
ers they  were  almost  equally  useless  from  a  too  strict     adher- 


="  Bdinibungli  ReView,  30:   486. 
"  Hansani,  XXXVII,  c.  817. 
"  P.  P.,  Vol.  408. 


22  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

ence  to  the  letter  of  the  foundation.      There  was  negHgence  in 
all  its  various  branches  and  willful  and  corrupt  abuse. "' 

Tlie  Court  of  Chancery  w^as  the  only  tribunal  which  had 
cognizance  of  breaches  of  trust  and  other  matters  connected 
with  charities.  A  series  of  successive  decisions  of  men  of 
great  eminence  had  established  a  system  for  purposes  of  doing- 
justice  in  cases  in  which  the  machinery  of  the  ordinary  courts 
was  inapplicable;  but  the  Court  of  Chancery  was  useless  for 
small  charities.  Mere  entry  in  the  court,  the  delivery  of  briefs 
to  counsel,  and  the  proceedings  entirely  absorbed  or  destroyed 
a  charity  of  small  amount  long  before  the  decree  was  finally 
reached.  The  idea  of  expending  £700  or  £800  on  a  charity 
which  amounted  to  £10  a  year  was  absurd."'  In  1812  Sir 
Samuel  Romilly's  bill  lessened  the  expense  in  some  degree  by 
having  a  more  summary  jurisdiction  in  cases  where  the  lands 
had  not  got  into  the  hands  of  third  persons  but  remained  with 
the  trustees.  "  He  provided  that  instead  of  proceeding  by  in- 
formation in  the  cases  to  which  the  bill  applied,  the  party 
might  proceed  by  petition  presented  to  the  chancellor,  and 
the  chancellor  might  summarily  decide  the  matter  upon  affi- 
davit. But  "summarily"  could  not  be  construed  in  the  ordi- 
nary sense  and  the  chief  result  seems  to  have  been  an  increase 
of  vexatious  suits. "'  It  required  an  extraordinary  degree  of 
public  spirit  and  a  determination  to  make  great  sacrifices  of 
rdoney  and  personal  convenience  for  any  person  to  become  a 
relator  in  such  a  proceeding.  It  was  not  likely  that  many, 
with  no  hope  of  reward  or  even  of  indemnity,  would  enter  on 
such  a  course  for  the  sake  of  the  poor.  But  the  small  chari- 
ties were  important  and  if  properly  managed  would  be  in  the 
aggregate  a  large  sum. 


=»  HanBand,  XXXVIII,  c.  585. 

"  Ibid.,  3  S.,  LXXX,  c.  772. 

"  Romliilly  Memoirs,  VoQ.  Ill,  p.  350. 

^  Bafl'fiour,  ip.  155. 


for  Education  in  England  23 

Brougham  moved  for  leave  to  bring  in  a  bill  on  the  subject, 
and  with  Sir  Samuel  Romilly  and  Mr.  Babington,  he  was  or- 
dered to  prepare  it.  ''  As  presented,  April  8,  it  provided 
that  Parliament  appoint  eight  commissioners,  to  be  divided 
into  four  boards  of  two  each,  who  should  receive  salaries, 
and  who  should  travel  about  from  one  place  to  another,  em- 
powered to  examine  witnesses  on  oath  and  call  for  papers, 
persons,  records  and  deeds  under  penalty  of  commitment. 
They  were  to  concern  themseilves  with  abuses  in  charities  con- 
nected with  education  of  the  poor  and  the  investigation  of  the 
education  of  the  poor  generally;  and  were  to  exempt  the  two 
universities,  Westminster,  Winchester  and  Charterhouse.  To 
supplement  the  expensive  individual  complaints  in  the  Court 
of  Chancery,  the  commissioners  w^ere  to  have  pow^er  to  file  a 
bill  without  cost.  A  semi-annual  report  was  to  be  made  to 
Parliament.  '* 

It  had  been  Brougham's  original  intention  to  propose  that 
the  inquiry  extend  to  all  charities  whatever,  but  he  had  decid- 
ed it  would  be  advisable  for  the  present  to  confine  it  to  the 
charities  for  education,  with  an  understanding  that  addi- 
tional powers  w^ould  be  given  the  next  session  to  include  all 
charities.  There  w^ould  be  ample  employment  for  the  com- 
missioners for  a  considerable  time  in  the  metropolis  and 
twenty  or  thirty  miles  around,  and  this  would  give  time  for 
finding  out  the  sort  of  persons  who  could  most  efficaciously 
execute  the  provisions  of  the  act.  Another  purpose  would  be 
gained  by  the  delay — it  would  serve  as  a  warning  to  those 
great  bodies  by  whom  charitable  funds  w^ere  abused.  " 

The  bill  excited  no  discussion  in  the  House  until  it  was  con- 
sidered in  the  committee  of  the  whole.  But,  outside,  the  new^s 
of  the  bill  had  spread  and  those  connected  with  charities     be- 


"  Jounnall  of  H.  of  C,  Vial.  73,  p.  192,  March  17,  1818. 
=' Hamisao-d,  XXXVIII,  c.  585. 
*»  Ibid.,  XXXVII,  c.  1297. 


24  TTie  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

came  alarmed.  It  was  stated  that  the  bill  interfered  with  the 
management  of  charitable  funds  and  that  it  intrenched  on  pri- 
vate property;"  and  that  hardship  would  be  involved  in  the 
production  of  deeds,  as  many  institutions  were  under  oath  not 
to  disclose  them."  The  use  of  force  was  denounced;  a  pe- 
tition was  prepared  by  magistrates  and  trustees  of  certain 
public  charities  of  Abingdon  in  Berkshire  complaining  that 
they  had  been  calumniated  in  statements  made  to  the  House; " 
and  objection  was  made  to  the  fact  that  some  institutions  were 
exempted. 

Brougham,  on  April  27  when  the  bill  was  in  committee  of 
the  whole,  expressed  regret  that  a  previous  discus^on  had  not 
prevented  these  misrepresentations.  ^^  The  bill,  he  said,  did 
not  interfere  with  the  management  but  with  the  mismanage- 
ment of  charitable  funds.  It  was  not  encroaching  on  private 
property.  "The  fact  was,  that  persons  receiving  money  for 
charitable  purposes  were,  as  much  as  any  officer  of  the  gov- 
ernment, entrusted  with  public  property  and  had  a  right  to  ac- 
count for  it."  As  far  as  deeds  were  concerned  it  was  only 
when  the  whole  deed  related  to  charity  that  it  need  be  produc- 
ed; when  only  a  part  was  apposite,  a  certified  excerpt  would 
be  accepted,  and  if  the  deed  were  in  the  hands  of  agents, 
trustees  or  mortgagees,  due  notice  would  be  given.  The  use  of 
force  was  essentially  necessary.  He  defended  the  examination 
of  the  greater  schools,  for  even  these  had  part  of  their  funds 
or  endowments  derived  from  donations  granted  with  a  view 
to  educating  those  whose  means  were  too  contracted  to  admit 
the  expenses  of  these  seminaries  or  colleges.  He  felt  the  force 
of  the  remark  concerning  the  exception  of  some,  but  refusal 
might  endanger  the  bill  in  certain  quarters;  also,  he  pointed 
out,  that  these  establishments  were  conspicuously  in  the     eyes 


"^  Ibid.,  XXXVIII,  c.  336. 
"Ibid.,  XXXVIII,  c.  585. 
""  Ibid.,  XXXVIII,  c.  341. 
"  Ibid.,  XXXVIII,  c.  341. 


for  Education  In  England  23 

of  the  public  and  might  be  examined  by  the  ordinary  proceed- 
ings in  Chancery  and  by  the  inquiries  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons. 

The  appointment  of  the  commissioners  by  Parliament,  he 
explained,  did  not  proceed  from  jealousy  of  His  Majesty's 
ministers  but  in  consequence  of  precedents.  He  would  not 
object  to  the  appointment  of  commissioners  by  the  ministry, 
provided  the  patronage  would  not  be  abused  and  there  would 
be  no  ciphers.  '^ 

The  bill  was  amended,  at  Brougham's  suggestion,  to  include 
all  charities  and,  as  reported  to  the  House  of  Lords,  was  en- 
titled "An  Act  for  appointing  Commissioners  to  inquire  of  the 
Charities  in  England  and  Wales,  and  of  the  Education  of  the 
Poor".'"  It  was  late  in  the  session  when  it  reached  the  upper 
house  and  here  it  encountered  the  hostile  opposition  of  the 
law  authorities  and  a  formidable  body  of  prelates,  and  was 
ortly  feebly  and  reluctantly  supported  by  the  ministers  of  the 
Crown.  The  second  reading  was  called  by  a  sort  of  political 
miracle  and  the  bill  reached  the  committee  only  by  a  majority 
of  one.  ^'  Here  it  was  so  mutilated  that  Brougham  scarcely 
recognized  his  own  "offspring".'^  The  recommendations  of 
the  bill  were  thought  to  be  of  a  nature  for  which  the  country 
at  that  time  was  utterly  unprepared.  Lord  Ellenborough  de- 
nominated a  plan  "printed  by  order  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons and  indicating  a  purpose  of  erecting  a  parliamentary 
trust  of  all  schools  in  the  kingdom,  as  a  measure  big  w^ith  mis- 
chiefs of  a  most  alarming  magnitude"/' 


•Mb(id.,  XXXVIII,  c.  585. 

«'  Ibid.,  XXXVIII,  c.  336. 

•«  Jonrnaa  of  H.  of  C,  Vol.  73,  p.  362. 

"  BrougJia'in'is  Letter  ito  Sir  Soaiiuel  Romiilly,  Speeciies,  Veil.  II, 
p.  65. 

'*A  icomimiisisliion  bad  'been  suggested  laftier  tbe  defeat  lof  Wihiiitbred's 
bill  in  1807,  but  Brougbam  is'aid  lie  was  unaware  of  thlis  when  he  pro- 
posied  ithe  ^measure.    Hansard,  XXXVIII,  c.  585. 

'*  Life  and  Qoirxesipondence  of  Visccoinlt  iSidmouth  by  Geo.  Pellew, 
Vdl.  Ill,  p.  220. 


26  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

Two  of  the  three  objects  of  the  bill  were  rejected — ^the  in- 
vestigation of  the  education  of  the  poor  generally,  and  the  ex- 
amination of  abuses  of  all  charities.  "  The  number  of  the 
commissioners  was  changed  to  fourteen,  six  of  whom  were  to 
be  honorary  and  receive  no  salary.  No  member  of  either 
house  of  Parliament  was  to  have  salary,  but  traveling  ex- 
penses were  to  be  provided  for  all.  The  quorum  was  changed 
to  three,  so  to  form  three  boards  one  of  the  honorary  mem- 
bers would  have  to  be  added.  The  commissioners  were  not 
to  be  named  in  the  bill  but  were  to  be  appointed  by  the 
Crown.  "  They  could  traverse  the  country  and  call  witnesses 
but  were  to  possess  no  power  of  enforcing  attendance,  or  of 
demanding  the  production  of  any  document.  As  it  was  ob- 
jected that  the  possibility  of  committal  might  deter  persons 
from  acting  as  trustees,  the  commissioners  w^ere  empowered 
neither  to  imprison  nor  to  inflict  a  fine;  only  voluntary  evi- 
dence could  be  called  for.  Moreover,  they  were  not  able  to 
institute  proceedings  but  were  restricted  to  inquiry  and  re- 
port. '■ 

The  exemptions  w^ere  greatly  extended  so  as  to  include  Ox- 
ford, Cambridge,  and  any  college  and  hall  within  them;  any 
school  of  w^hich  the  said  universities,  colleges  or  halls  w^ere 
trustees;  Winchester,  Eton,  Westminster,  Charterhouse,  Har- 
row, Rugby;  all  cathedral  or  collegiate  churches  in  England; 
any  college,  free  school  or  institution  for  the  purpose  of  edu- 
cation for  which  special  visitors  were  appointed  by  the  found- 
ers; any  funds  for  the  education  of  Jews,  Quakers,  or  Roman 
Catholics,  and  under  the  control  of  persons  of  such  persua- 
sions. 

These  changes  excited  the  ire  of  Brougham  and  called  forth 


"Hanisaird,  XXXVIII,  c.  1242. 

"  (Sitaituites  at  Lange,  58  Geo.  Ill,  aap.  XCI,  Je.  10,  1818. 

"  Hanlsiard,  XXXVIU,  c.  1212. 

"  Stoltuitels  (alt  Large,  58  Geo.  Ill,  oap.  XOI,  Je.  10,  1818. 


for  Education  In  England  27 

his  most  impassioned  invectives.  "  He  denounced  the  bill  as 
a  powerless  instrument,  a  mere  mockery.  The  Lords  had  ex- 
empted the  very  charities  where  the  most  flagrant  abuses  ex- 
isted— those  with  special  visitors;  for  the  visitors  either  lived 
at  a  distance,  or  they  were  patrons  of  the  school  and  would  not 
correct  the  abuses  to  which  their  system  led;  or  they  were 
heirs  at  law  of  the  donor  and  would  rather  pocket  the  funds 
than  apply  them  to  their  proper  purposes.  It  w^ould  be  a  mere 
farce  to  call  for  voluntary  evidence  only.  Although  there 
were  more  commissioners  they  were  so  divided,  with  three  as 
a  quorum,  that  one  less  board  woilld  be  functioning.  It  had 
been  objected  that  the  courts  of  lavsr  afforded  ample  means  of 
correcting  abuses.  But  as  to  expedition  and  cheapness  and 
attention  to  the  comfort  of  those  who  were  involved  in  the 
business  of  these  courts,  they  were  qualities  by  which  they 
were  not  distinguished.  Some  persons  objected  to  the  ex- 
pense of  having  the  commissioners  inquire  into  small  charities 
but  it  was  just  there  that  the  necessity  existed  for  they  might 
show^  a  larger  amount  in  reality. 

Since  the  bill  had  been  so  greatly  amended  the  Select  Com- 
mittee on  Education  decided  to  reject  it  and  proceed  in  the 
House  of  Commons  by  way  of  address.  ^'  On  June  3, 
Brougham  moved — 

"That  an  humble  Address  be  presented  to  his  royal  high- 
ness the  Prince  Regent,  praying  that  his  Royal  Highness  would 
be  graciously  pleased  to  issue  a  Commission  to  inquire  into  the 
State  of  Education  of  the  Poor  throughout  England  and 
Wales;  and  to  report  from  time  to  time  to  his  Royal  Highness, 
and  to  this  House  thereupon".  '" 

The  motion  was  so  framed  that  it  called  for  the  creation  of 
a  distinct  comimission  in  no  way  connected  with  that  appoint- 


"  HaiDBlalnd,  XXXVIII,  c.  1212. 

"  Letter  to  RomiLly,  Speeobeis,  Vol.  II,  p.  65. 

"Hamisaird,  XXXVIII,  c.  1226. 


28  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

ed  under  the  bill.  It  would  have  the  effect  of  giving  the 
House  of  Commons  full  legislative  power  by  taking  away  the 
power  of  the  House  of  Lords  to  negative  a  measure.  For  this 
the  occasion  was  not  considered  serious  enough  and  the  mo- 
tion was  defeated. 

But  the  bill,  though  mutilated,  still  contained  some  good. 
When  Brougham  considered  the  late  period  of  the  session  he 
felt  certain  that  unless  he  agreed  to  the  amendments  the 
w^hoile  measure  would  be  losit.  *'  Seeing  a  mode  of  working  in- 
directly, he  resolved  to  adopt  it.  Although  only  voluntary 
evidence  could  be  called  for,  a  report  of  those  who  refused  to 
give  information  would  be  made;  then  if  the  House  would  re- 
appoint the  education  committee  the  next  year,  it  wodld  be 
empowered  to  call  these  persons.  As  far  as  the  exemption  of 
charities  with  special  visitors  was  concerned,  the  new  com- 
miittee  couJd  also  follow  up  the  report  of  the  commissioners  of 
all  demurrers  in  limine.  "  He,  therefore,  called  upon  the 
House  to  take  effective  steps  to  render  the  labors  of  the  com- 
missioners effective  by  resolving  to  reappoint  the  committee 
in  the  next  session,  to  constitute  it  of  the  same  individuals  and 
to  clothe  it  with  the  siaime  powers  as  at  present.  ** 

Brougham  could  not  leave  the  subject  without  making  one 
more  effort  to  make  the  powers  of  the  commissioners  more 
extensive.     He  therefore  moved — 

"That  an  humble  Address  be  presented  to  his  royal  high- 
ness the  Prince  Regent,  that  he  would  be  graciously  pleased 
to  instruct  any  Commissioners  w^ho  may  be  appointed  under 
a  bill  entitled,  'An  act  for  appointing  Commissioners  to  in- 
quire of  the  Charities  in  England  and  Wales,  and  of  the  Edu- 
cation of  the  Poor',  to  inquire  into  the  Abuses  of  Charities  not 
connected  with  Education". 


"  Ibid.,  3  S.,  OLXIIl,  c  695. 

**  Leitlteir  to  Rtcmlilly,  Speeches,  Vol.  II,  p.  65. 

"  Hiansiard,  XXXVIII,  c.  1225. 


for  Education  in  England  29 

Upon  the  refusal  of  this  he  gave  notice  that  early  in  the 
next  session  he  would  move  for  leave  to  bring  in  a  bill  to  ap- 
point, if  possible,  the  same  commissioners  to  inquire  into  all 
abuses  of  charities  by  which  the  property  of  the  poor  "had 
been  dilapidated  and  plundered  by  those  who  met  w^ith  the 
sanction  of  some,  the  fellow-feeling  of  others,  and  the  protec- 
tion of  many — as  was  obvious  from  the  vote  of  that  night". 
This  remark  occasioned  the  accusation  that  he  was  slandering 
the  House  but  it  was  insisted  by  Mr.  Ward  that  Brougham  had 
only  pursued  his  usual  course  of  "running  riot  against  those  by 
whom  he  had  been  opposed".  ^^ 

In  the  course  of  the  debate  on  the  bill,  when  the  possibility 
of  having  some  honorary  members  of  the  commission  w^ithout 
salary  was  being  considered.  Brougham  stated  in  the  House 
that  no  man  could  think  more  highly  than  he  did  of  some  of 
the  gentlemen  who  he  had  heard  would  be  named  on  the 
comimission.  As  nothing  but  the  labor  could  reward  such  an 
appointment,  and  no  motive  could  engage  anyone  to  accept 
it  but  a  desire  to  see  the  matter  conscientiously  and  steadily 
proceeded  in,  he  publicly,  without  further  ceremony,  on  the 
terms  he  had  mentioned,  begged  to  offer  his  own  services  as 
one  of  the  commissioners.  He  had  consulted  his  brother 
members  of  the  committee,  who  had  thought  it  fair  that  he 
should  make  this  offer,  from  the  part  he  had  had  in  this  busi- 
ness already,  and  from  the  interest  which  he  took  in  the  com- 
plete success  of  the  measure.  He  offered  only  his  time  and 
his  labor,  and  if  he  should  have  the  good  fortune  to  see  this 
offer  accepted,  it  would  afford  him  the  most  heartfelt  satis- 
faction. If  incom^patible  with  his  seat  in  the  House,  he  would 
resign  that;  for,  as  he  believed  from  the  bottom  of  his  heart 
the  inquiry  to  be  one  of  the  most  im,portant  in  w^hich  that 
House  had  ever  been  engaged,  he  did  not  know  that  he 
should  think  it  too  great  a  sacrifice  to  withdraw  himself  for  a 

•»IbM.,  XXXVMI,  c.  12a«. 


30  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

while  from  other  duties,  to  afford  that  security  Which  he  knew 
his  presence  on  the  commission  would  give  those  who  were 
anxious  for  the  success  of  the  inquiry,  that  the  object  in  view 
might  be  unceasingly  pursued  to  its  accomplishment.  "" 

As  the  selection  of  the  functionaries  was  vested  in  the 
Crown  it  devolved  upon  Lord  Sidmouth,  by  virtue  of  his  of- 
fice. Conspicuous  for  its  absence  was  the  name  of  Henry 
Brougham.  No  member  of  the  Education  Comimittee  was 
put  on  the  board  to  superintend  the  execution  of  their  own 
measure  and  only  two  persons  whom  they  had  suggested  were 
appointed. ""     Referring  to  the  matter,  Sidmouth  commented, 

"They  are  attacking  me  vehemently  in  the  Morning  Chron- 
icle, but  I  am  satisfied  a  selection  was  never  made  with  more 
scrupulous  caution  or  with  more  pure  intentions."  "^ 

As  a  mode  of  bringing  the  whole  matter  before  the  public, 
Brougham,  during  vacation,  employed  his  powerful  pen  on  a 
Idtter  to  Sir  Samuel  Romilly.  " 

"My  belief  is",  he  wrote,  "that  great  as  the  errors  are 
which  have  been  committed,  some  good  may  yet  be  atttained 
by  directing  the  public  attention  to  the  proceedings  under 
the  Act;  while,  at  all  events,  the  defects  of  that  measure,  and 
of  the  steps  already  taken  to  execute  it,  can  only  be  supplied 
by  a  full  discussion  of  the  whole  subject." 

And  so  he  outlined  the  steps  by  w^hich  the  committee  had 
been  prevented  from  pursuing  their  object  in  their  ow^n  way 
and  showed  to  whom  the  blame  of  the  failure  belonged. 

The  Select  Committee  on  the  Education  of  the  Lower  Or- 
ders had  sat  a  w^eek  or  two  after  the  passage  of  the  act  for 
the  commissioners.     This  had  presented  an  opportunity  which 


« Ibiid.,  XXXVIII,  c.  763. 

^=  Leltter  Ito  Romilly,  Speedhe's,  Vol.  II,  p.  82. 

^Ldlfe  lanid  Oonreisplanideii'Ce  lof  Viisoount  Sidmouith,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  220. 

"(Speecliels,  VioQ.  II,  p.  65. 


for  Education  in  England  3  I 

Brougham  had  not  failed  to  seize.  While  not  particularly 
authorized  to  include  the  higher  schools  they  might  include 
them  as  a  matter  of  discretion.  So,  as  the  universities,  public 
schools  and  charities  with  special  visitors  were  exempted  from 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  commissioners,  they  occupied  them- 
selves w^ith  the  examination  of  several  of  these  institutions. 
The  result  was  that  abuse  and  errors  of  great  magnitude  w^ere 
discovered  in  those  w^hich  w^ere  excepted.     They  reported: 

"That  considerable  unauthorized  deviations  have  been 
made,  in  both  Eton  and  Winchester,  from  the  original  plans 
of  the  founders;  that  those  deviations  have  been  dictated  more 
by  a  regard  to  the  interests  of  the  Fellows  than  of  the  Schol- 
ars, who  were  the  main  objects  of  the  foundations  and  of  the 
founder's  bounty;  and  that  although  in  some  respects  they 
have  proved  beneficial  upon  the  whole  to  the  institutions,  yet 
that  they  have  been,  by  gradual  encroachments  in  former 
times,  carried  too  far".  " 

The  committee  in  its  final  report  stated  that  the  discussion 
excited  by  the  first  report  of  the  Committee  of  1816  and  the 
arguments  urged  in  that  committee  to  the  various  patrons  of 
c^harities,  who  had  been  examined  as  witnesses,  had  had  the 
effect  of  improving  the  administration  of  these  institutions, 
and  of  inculcating  the  importance  of  bestowing  their  funds  in 
educating  a  large  number  instead  of  giving  both  instruction 
and  other  assistance  to  a  more  confined  number  of  children. 
"As  the  management  of  those  excdllent  establishments  is  nec- 
essarily placed  beyond  the  control  of  the  Legislature  it  is  only 
by  the  efforts  of  such  candid  discussions  that  improvements  in 
them  can  be  effected."  "  A  vast  mass  of  information  had 
been  incessantly  poured  into  the  committee.     It  seemed  as  if  a 


''P.  P.,  Vol.  408,  TMrd  Report  of  Select  Oammiittee  of  1818. 
»«IiblM. 


32  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

new  light  had  broken  in  on  the  country,  for  from  places 
where  no  abuses  were  even  suspected  to  exist,  most  impoi- 
tant  communications  and  disclosures  had  been  received.  " 

The  committee  further  reported''  that  since  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  first  committee  for  London  in  1816,  notwith-^ 
standing  the  severe  pressure  of  the  times,  the  exertions  of 
charitable  individuals  and  public  bodies  had  increased,  with 
the  result  that  the  means  of  instruction  had  been  augmented  in 
that  quarter.  Moreover,  since  the  inquiries  were  extended  to 
the  w^hole  island,  the  means  of  education  for  the  poor  w^ere 
steadily  increasing  in  all  the  considerable  towns. 

A  circular  letter  had  been  addressed  to  all  the  clergy  of 
England,  Scotland  and  Wales  and  a  digest  of  the  information 
was  begun.  '"  The  returns  show^ed  the  greater  deficiency  in 
the  means  of  educating  the  poor  wherever  the  population  was 
thin  and  scattered  over  the  country  districts.  The  efforts  of 
individuals  combined  in  societies  were  almost  wholly  confined 
to  populous  places.  But  there  was  evidence  that  the  anxiety 
of  the  poor  for  education  was  daily  increasing,  and  extended 
to  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  was  even  prevalent  in  the 
smaller  towns  and  country  districts. 

The  committee  had  observed  the  liberality  in  many  schools 
of  the  National  Society  where  the  catechism  and  attendance 
at  church  were  only  required  of  those  whose  parents  belonged 
to  the  establishment.  Roman  Catholics  were  also  anxious  to 
avail  themselves  of  these  Protestant  schools  where  no  cate- 
chism Wcis  taught. 

Brougham  had  voiced  the  opinions  of  the  committee  con- 
cerning suggestions  for  promoting  universal  education  when 
he  had  addressed  the  House  of  Commons  on  May  8. "'  Two 
different  plans  were  advisable,   one  adapted     to  the  situation 


"  H'ainJslarid,  XXXViIII,  c.  760. 

"  P.  P.,  Vol.  408,  TMnd  Rieporlt  of  Selleot  Committee  of  1818. 

"  Hajnislaird,  XXXVIIII,  c.  1207. 

^Oilbid.,  XXXVMI,  c.  585. 


for  Education  in  Elngland  33 

of  the  people  in  cities  and  towns  of  considerable  size  (where 
the  population  exceeded  7,000  or  8,000),  and  the  other  to 
the  circumstances  of  the  people  in  small  towns  and  villages 
and  in  districts  wholly  agricultural,  where  hardly  a  village  ex- 
isted. In  the  first,  Brougham  thought  there  existed,  generally 
speaking,  sufficiently  ample  means  of  instructing  the  poor. 

"Not  that  there  is  almost  any  town  where  all  can  at  present 
be  taught;  but  that  the  laudable  exertions  of  individuals  are 
directed  everywhere  to  this  object  and  are  daily  making  such 
progress  as  will  in  time  leave  nothing  to  be  wished  for.  So- 
cieties are  formed  or  forming  of  respectable  and  opulent  per- 
sons w^ho  besides furnishing  the  necessary  funds,    do 

not  begrudge  what  many  withhold  who  are  liberal  enough  of 
pecuniary  assistance — ^their  time,   their  persevering  and  active 

personal  exertions." "There  can  be  no  doubt,   that 

a  sufficient  number  of  schools  to  educate  all  the  poor  of  such 
populous  places  may  be  maintained  by  the  voluntary  contri- 
butions of  such  bodies,  if  the  obstacle  is  removed  w^hich  the 
first  expense  of  the  undertakings,  the  providing  school-houses, 
occasions.  Where  so  powerful  a  disposition  to  carry  on  this 
good  work  exists  in  the  community  itself,  we  should  be  very 
careful  how  we  interfere  with  it  by  any  legislative  provisions. 
The  greatest  danger  is  to  be  apprehended  of  drying  up  those 
sources  of  private  charity,  by  an  unguarded  interposition  of 
the  public  authority.  The  associations  to  which  I  refer  act  for 
the  poor  both  as  benefactors,  as  advocates,  and  as  trustees. 
They  contribute  themselves;  they  appeal  to  the  community 
through  the  usual  channels  of  private  solicitation,  of  public 
meetings  and  of  the  press;  they  raise  sums  by  donations  to  be- 
gin the  undertakings,  and  by  annual  subscriptions  to  meet  the 
current  expenses;  they  manage  the  expenditure,  for  the  most 
part,  with  a  degree  of  economy,  which  I  am  afraid  can  never 
be  hoped  for  in  the  distribution  of  any  portion  of  the  state 
revenue." 

Whatever  the  State  should  be  disposed  to  do,  he  thought, 
should  be  confined  to  the  removal  of  the  cost  of  the  school- 
houses.  Whether  the  money  should  be  vested  in  commission- 
ers, empowered  to  make  the  fit  terms  with  the  private  parties 


34  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 


desirous  of  establishing  schools,  or  whether  a  certain  sum 
should  be  intrusted  to  the  two  great  institutions  in  London 
might  be  left  to  Parliament  to  determine. 


"In   the  smallest  towns  and   villages  and   country      districts 

there  is  not  found  the  same  inclination  to  plant  schools 

Where  individuals  live  in  very  narrow  communities,  still 
more  where  they  are  scattered  in  the  country,  they  have  not 
the  habits  of  assembling  in  meetings,  and  acting  in  bodies. 
Their  zeal  is  not  raised  by  the  sympathy  and  mutual  reflexion 
which  constant  communication  excites;  and  even  when  their 
dispositions  are  good,  they  know  not  how  to  set  about  form- 
ing or  promoting  a  plan  which  must  essentially  depend  on 
combined  operations.  In  such  districts  w^e  certainly  cannot 
expect  the  great  work  of  educating  the  poor  to  be  undertaken 
by  the  voluntary  zeal  of  the  rich.  And  here,  therefore,  it  is 
that  I  must  look  forward  to  legislative  interference,  as  both 
safe  and  necessary." 

The  committee  forbore  to  inquire  minutdly  in  w^hat  manner 
this  system  ought  to  be  connected  with  the  Church  Establish- 
ment. Where  means  existed  of  erecting  two  schools,  one  for 
the  Church  and  one  for  Dissenters,  education  would  not  be 
checked  by  an  exclusive  plan;  but  where  only  one  school 
could  be  supported  any  regulations  that  excluded  Dissenters 
deprived  the  poor  of  that  body  of  all  nmeans  of  education. 
The  committee  were  of  the  opinion  that  some  connection 
ought  to  be  formed  with  the  ELstablished  Church  for — 


"It  is  dictated  by  a  regard  to  the  prosperity  and  stability  of 
both  systems To  place  the  choice  of  the  schoolmas- 
ter in  the  parish  vestry,  subject  to  the  approbation  of  the  par- 
son, and  the  visitation  of  the  diocesan;  but  to  provide  that 
children  of  sectarians  shall  not  be  compelled  to  learn  any 
catechism  or  attend  any  Church,  other  than  those  of  their 
parents,  seems  to  Your  Committee  the  safest  path  by  which 
the  Legislature  can  hope  to  obtain  the  desirable  objects  of  se- 


for  Education  in  England  33 

curity  to  the  Establishment  on  one  hand  and  justice  to  the  Dis- 
senters on  the  other.  "  '" 

D.      Charitable  Foundations  Bill,  1819. 

In  1819  Brougham  was  ready  to  carry  out  his  threat  of  the 
preceding  session  to  move  for  the  reappointment  of  the  Edu- 
cation Committee,  but  on  the  second  night  of  the  session  a 
message  was  sent  to  him  by  Lord  Castlereagh,  Chancellor  of 
the  Exchequer,  stating  that  he  as  a  minister  of  the  Crown  was 
about  to  introduce  a  specific  measure  for  augmenting  the  pow^- 
ers  of  the  commissioners  and  extending  their  objects  of  in- 
quiry. "'  The  avowed  intention  of  such  notice  was  to  make 
Brougham  postpone  his  motion,  for  the  committee  would  then 
be  rendered  unnecessary.  Consequently,  Castlereagh  on  May 
2  1  moved  for  leave  to  bring  in  a  bill  *'to  amend  the  act  of  the 
last  session  appointing  corrHnissoners  to  inquire  concerning 
charities  in  England  for  the  education  of  the  poor  and  to  ex- 
tend the  powers  thereof  to  other  charities  in  England  and 
Wales".  ^  He  had  delayed  until  the  first  semi-annual  report 
of  the  conunissioners  was  in,  from  which  he  had  learned  that 
the  inquiry  had  given  no  pain  or  vexation  to  any  of  the  parties 
concerned. 

The  bill  proposed  that  there  should  be  twenty  commission- 
■ers,  ten  paid  and  ten  honorary,  two  of  w^hom  should  be  a 
iquorum,  except  that  a  report  to  Parliament  w^as  to  be  drawn 
up  by  five.  The  salary  was  to  be  £  1  000  a  year  and  £8000 
was  to  be  allow^ed  for  traveling  and  other  expenses.  The 
commissioners  could  examine  on  oaths  and  could  apply  to 
(the  Vice-Chancdllor  or  the  Master  of  the  Rolls  or  the  Court  of 
■the  Exchequer  to  impose  an  unlimited  fine  upon  all  persons 
disobeying  an  order  to  answ^er  questions  or  produce  papers. 
Jn  addition  to  the  exemptions  of  the  former  measure,  jurisdic- 


P.  P.,  Vol.  408,  Thdrd  Report  of  Select  Commo/titee  of  1818. 
Hansard,  XL,  c.  1308. 
Ibid.,  XL,  c.  660. 


36  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

tion  was  excluded  where  the  charities  w^ere  created  by  volun- 
tary subscriptions  from  time  to  time  and  w^here  they  were 
managed  by  committees  of  the  subscribers.  " 

The  greater  part  of  this  measure  Brougham  approved.      He 
rejoiced  to  see  that  all  the  old  clauses  which     the  Lords     had 
rejected  from  his  bill  now  came  recommended  by     ministers. 
As  to  the  powers,  that  of  instituting  process     was  a  great     im- 
provement, although  he  thought  it  would  be     better     for     the 
commissioners  to  have  the  pow^er  of  imposing  a  penalty     and 
for  the  Courts     of  King's  Bench     or     Exchequer     to     fix     the 
emount.     The  exception  of  all  charities  principally  supported 
iby  voluntary  contributions  he  deemed  necessary  to  encourage 
charity.      But  to  the  exception  of  charities  with  special  visitors 
he  w^as  strongly  opposed.     There  w^ere  40,000  charities  of   all 
kinds  in  the  kingdom  and  of  these  he  estimated  five     in  every 
100,  or  in  all  2000,  had  special  visitors.     Without     supposing 
that  there  was  any  connivance  on  the  part  of  the  visitors,     yet 
seeing  there  was  a  probability  of  abuses  existing  which  had  not 
come  to  their  knowledge,  there  could  be     no     objection,     he 
thought,  to  the  interference  of  the  commissioners,  who  would 
inquire  and  not  act,  w^ho  would  aid  and  not  supersede  the  vis- 
itors. When  no  visitor  was  appointed  the  founder  and  his  heirs 
were  the  visitors  and  the  act  of  the  last  session  had  been  inter- 
preted to  give  power  to  inquire  w^here  the  visitor  and  the  trustee 
were  one.    Was  it  not  inconsistent  that  where  the  founder  had 
such  unbounded  confidence  in  a  person  that  he  appointed  him 
not  only  visitor  but  trustee  there  should  be  inquiry,  while  w^here 
strangers  were  appointed  there  w^as  none?      At  first     he   was 
isanguine  that  he  could  persuade  the  House  to  remove  this  ex- 
ception, but  if  not,  ae  hoped  to  have  a  clause  adopted  to  put 
i,the  visitatoriail  power  in  motion  and  to  ascertain  that  it  was  in 
motion,  and  he  would  propose  an  amendment     to  allow  com- 
missioners to  exanaine  all  cases  in  which     the  speciail     visitors 

"Ibid.,  XL,  c.  1154. 


for  Education  In  England  37 

desired  it.  He  also  would  propose  another  clause  to  empower 
the  commissioners  to  make  orders  in  cases  of  gross  and  pal- 
pable malversation,  without  leaving  the  remedy  to  the  delays 
of  Chancery.  *" 

But  Brougham's  motions  to  make  these  changes  w^ere  not 
successful.  He  had  been  aw^are  that  misrepresentations  of  the 
conduct  of  his  committees  had  gone  abroad.  Scandalous  li- 
bels, questions  that  had  never  been  asked  and  persons  who 
had  never  been  examined  were  reported.  "  He  was  now 
forced  to  defend  himself  in  the  House.  His  present  speech 
was  the  occasion  of  a  long  diatribe  from  Peel,  who  was 
spokesman  for  the  Tories. "  Brougham's  argument  against 
ithe  exemptions  of  charitable  institutions  was  declared  incon- 
clusive. Why  had  Brougham  not  sponsored  a  measure  earlier 
in  the  session?  The  committee  of  1816  had  exceeded  its  au- 
thority in  inquiring  into  the  universities  and  public  schools. 
Peel  said  he  did  not  call  attention  to  this  sooner  because  the 
report  of  the  first  committee  was  printed  after  the  session  and 
that  of  the  second,  in  1817,  after  the  dissolution  of  Parliament. 
Brougham's  committee  had  contained  seventeen  who  were 
usually  with  him  in  politics  and  only  three  who  w^ere  on  the 
side  of  the  Government  and  who  would  naturally  uphold  the 
universities.  When  the  bill  of  1818  was  proposed  the  com- 
imittee,  rather  than  the  Crow^n,  wished  to  appoint  the  com- 
nnissioners  and  any  tw^o  were  to  have  power  of  committal. 
Such  pow^er  to  a  newly  constituted  authority  and  for  a  tem- 
porary purpose!  Brougham's  course  in  some  of  the  examina- 
tions had  been  most  discourteous.  He  had  also  published  the 
•statutes  of  Eton  in  the  fourth  report  against  the  rules  of  the 
school  after  he  had  been  told  that  the  copy  used,  that  in  the 
British  Museum,  was  imperfect;  and  on  it  he  had  made     mar- 


Ibid.,  XL,  c.  1296. 
Ibid.,  XL,  c.  1308. 
Ibid.,  XL,  c.  1300. 


38  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

ginal  annotations  bearing  the  appearance  of  parliamentary 
(authority.  On  July  10,  1818  one  month  after  the  dissolution 
lof  Parliament,  he  had  sent  a  letter  to  a  minister,  referring 
to  "inquiries  now  carrying  on  by  the  committee"  and  asking 
for  a  delayed  report  to  be  sent  him,  the  chairman.  In  the  let- 
ter to  Sir  Samuel  Romilly  Brougham  had  stated  that  in  the 
Westmoreland  election  he  had  refused  all  applications  for  ac- 
cess to  information  of  St.  Bee's  School.  Could  there  be 
credit  for  forbearance  in  this  when  such  an  act  would  have 
been  an  abuse  of  power? 

Brougham  rose  to  defend  himself,  with  his  w^eapons  of 
scorn  and  withering  sarcasm. "'  Against  this  premeditated  at- 
tack of  Peel's  he  was  suddenly  called  upon  to  defend  his  in- 
dividual character  and  that  of  his  colleagues,  whose  confi- 
dence he  said  he  w^as  proud  to  have  enjoyed  from  the  first  day 
he  had  sat  as  their  chairman,  to  the  last  when  he  had  reported 
their  proceedings;  and  this  came  at  a  time  when  almost  the 
whole  committee  were  absent.  Peel  had  waited  a  long  time 
before  he  had  complained  of  the  course  of  the  examinations 
and  the  people  examined.  Before  this  he  had  been  silent. 
"To  be  sure  it  might  not  then  have  been  so  easy  to  raise  an 
outcry  against  the  committee — because  the  foul  misrepresen- 
tations of  its  conduct  out  of  doors  had  not  been  disseminated, 
w^hich  made  it  now  somew^hat  safe  to  join  in  the  attack." 
But  opposition  until  that  evening  w^as  not  a  spark  compared 
with  this  flame.  Eleven  of  his  committee  had  been  ministerial 
members  and  many  v/ere  capable  of  investigating  the  univer- 
sities. "It  was  mighty  well  to  complain  of  those  attacks  now 
as  something  sacrilegious,  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  in  the 
House  the  insidious  or  ignorant  clamours  raised  out  of 
doors." 

As  for  his  discourtesy,  he  appealed  to  any  member  of  his 
committee  who  might  be  present  to  state  whether  Peel  or  any 

"'  Ibid.,  XL,  c.  1308. 


for  Education  in  Engfland  39 

witness  had  a  right  to  complain  of  his  conduct  in  the  chair.  In 
the  case  of  Eton  no  oath  against  pubHcation  of  the  statutes 
had  been  pleaded.  "But  no  such  oath  is  in  law  binding,  or 
can  stop  the  course  of  justice  in  the  low^est  tribunal  in  this 
country." 

It  was  the  uniform  practice  of  every  committee  long  after 
the  end  of  each  session  to  finish  the  reports  and  other  papers 
of  that  session  and  have  them  printed  and  circulated.  The 
letter  which  Peel  had  referred  to  he  had  carefully  worded  for 
he  was  well  aware  when  that  letter  w^as  sent,  w^hatever  he 
might  have  been  before,  "of  the  endless  variety  of  malignant 
misconstruction  and  foul  and  wicked  misrepresentation  to 
w^hich  any  man  exposed  himself  w^ho  acted  for  the  benefit  of 
the  poor",  and  w^ho  "w^ith  disinterested  motives,  and  without 
fear  of  obloquy,  exposed  the  hidden  mysteries  of  abuse".  The 
first  letter  had  been  sent  when  the  bill  was  expected  to  pass 
with  the  clause  requiring  the  commissioners  to  examine  the 
state  of  education  generally,  as  w^ell  as  the  abuse  of  charities, 
and  aimed  to  get  information  respecting  endowments.  When 
the  clause  was  struck  out  it  was  desirable  to  supply  defects  in 
the  returns  as  far  as  regarded  the  unendowed  schools,  and  the 
second  letter  had  been  sent. 

It  was  also  his  privilege  to  lend  his  own  notes,  but  he  had 
abstained  for  he  deemed  it  "perverting  to  party  purposes"  an 
inquiry  that  should  be  kept  free  from  all  such  connection. 

Peel's  rejoinder  to  Brougham's  speech,  however,  was  that 
gentlemen  who  pushed  themselves  forward  in  that  House  into 
public  situations,  such  as  chairmen  of  committees,  must  expect 
to  have  their  conduct  very  freely  and  fully  examined.  "^ 

E.     BUI  of  1820. 

Popular  opinion  had  undergone  a  great  change  since  the 
abortive  attempt  of  Whitbread  in   1807  for  an  act  to  found  a 

«=  Ibid.,  XL,  c.  1308. 

The  ooimimiisisiiiorL  was  Teappoinited  and  existed  until  1837.    Bnoiu^ham 
•was  chiaHnman  in  1836  and  1837.    P.  P.,  Vol.  391  &  392. 


40  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

sdhool  in  every  parish.  His  opponents  had  objected  that  if 
plovvtnen  and  mechanics  were  taught  to  read  they  vsrould 
thenceforward  disdain  to  w^ork.  It  was  no  longer  objected 
that  education  would  prove  a  detriment  to  the  poor.  In  the 
House  of  Commons  in  1818  Brougham  testified: 

"During  this  and  the  two  last  sessions,  in  all  the  discussions 
that  have  taken  place,  both  in  the  House,  in  the  committee  and 
in  the  country,  I  have  never  heard  a  single  whisper  hostile  to 
the  universal  diffusion  of  know<Iedge.  Everything  like  oppo- 
sition to  the  measure  itself  is  anxiously  disclciimed  by  all.  The 
only  question  entertained  is  touching  the  best,  that  is  the 
surest  and  most  economical,  method  of  carrying  it  into  ef- 
fect." '" 

On  June  28,  1820  the  Education  Digest,  which  was  pre- 
pared by  the  committee  of  181  8,  w^as  partially  completed.  '^ 
The  committee  had  been  working  on  it  for  a  year  but 
Brougham  himself  had  been  able  to  give  only  his  summer  and 
part  of  his  vacation  to  it.  The  committee  had  begun  by  send- 
ing out  a  circular  to  the  whole  of  the  clergy  of  Engjand  and 
Wales,  and  Brougham  himself  had  afterwards  sent  private 
letters.  The  result  was  a  digest  which  ex^hibited  "the  clearest 
and  most  prompt  information  on  every  part  of  the  subject". 
Tables  were  prepared  which  showed  the  actual  state  of  educa- 
tion in  every  county,  parish,  and  even  small  hamlet,  and  the 
defects  w^hidh  existed  in  each.  Two  keys  were  printed,  one 
to  the  numerical  tables  and  the  other  referring  more  par- 
ticularly to  subjects. 

Based  lUpon  this.  Brougham  was  now  ready  to  submit  a 
measure  to  Par^liament.  He  was  aw^are  that  it  was  an  unfor- 
tunate moment  to  bring  forward  a  question  proceeding  upon 
such  abstract  pr*inciples  as  this  one,  because  for  some  time 
Parliament  had  been  occupied  with  a  topic  to  which  the  most 


"iHanaand,  XXXVIII,  c.  585. 
"  Ibid.,  N.  iS.,  II,  c  49. 


for  Education  in  England  4T 

intense  attention  of  the  nation  had  been  directed,  namely  the 
domestic  troubles  of  King  George.  Queen  Caroline  had  just 
arrived  from  the  continent  to  plead  her  cause  in  person  and 
had  been  met  by  the  support  of  the  Whigs  and  great  popular 
enthusiasm.  Brougham  as  her  attorney-general  was  a  con- 
spicuous figure  of  the  day. 

But  the  education  measure  he  said  would  be  second  to  none 
in  magnitude  and  importance.  '  He  trusted  that  by  the  pro- 
duction of  the  plan  he  would  put  it  in  the  pow^er  of  the  House 
to  do  a  benefit  to  mankind  which  would  exist  and  be  -widely 
felt  long  after  the  other  question  would  have  been  determined 
and  long  after  the  differences  Which  existed  between  the  in- 
dividuals who  were  more  inamediately  connected  with  it, 
would  have  been  forgotten. 

TTie  statistics  show^ed  that  Eng'land  was  the  worst  educated 
country  of  Europe.  Only  one  sixteenth  of  the  w^hole  popula- 
tion was  placed  in  the  way  of  receiving  an  education,  as  com- 
pared with  one  ninth  in  Scotland.  There  were  about  12,000 
parishes  in  England.  Of  these,  3,500  had  no  vestige  of  a 
school,  3,000  had  some  endowments  and  the  rest  relied  on 
unendowed  efforts.  200,000  of  the  population  of  England 
were  unprovided  for  either  in  endowed,  unendowed,  dame  or 
Sunday  Schools,  or  by  private  tuition. 

The  education  in  the  dame  schools  amounted  to  almost 
nothing,  for  the  children  were  generally  sent  too  young  and 
were  taken  away  just  when  they  were  competent  to  learn. 
Brougham  was  of  the  opinion,  however,  that  these  schools 
were  quite  useful  on  account  of  the  regularity  and  discipline 
which  they  inculcated.  The  Sunday  Schools  he  thought  gave 
a  very  small  modicum  of  education  and  above  all  they  did  not 
give  opportunity  for  the  formation  of  the  useful  habits  that 
were  gained  through  the  discipline  of  schools  under  the  eye 
of  a  master. 

"  Ibid.,  N.  S.,  II,  c.  49-89. 


42  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

In  speaking  of  the  relation  of  education  to  crime  and  pov- 
erty he  claimed  for  education  salutary  and  permanent  effects. 
Miracles  were  not  to  be  expected.  "Education  enlightened 
the  people — it  did  not  immediately  remove  them  from 
crime." 

The  plan  which  Broughman  w^as  about  to  propose  was  not 
struck  out  in  heat  but  w^as  well  considered  by  him  and  the 
comlmittee.  Every  part  of  it  was  warranted  by  the  informa- 
tion laid  before  that  body.  It  was,  he  thought,  a  rational, 
pradticable  and  feasible  measure.  The  deficiency  in  educa- 
tion could  not  be  met  by  voluntary  subscriptions  alone,  al- 
though the  exertions  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Society  and  the 
National  Society  had  proved  most  commendable. 

There  was  ground  for  apprehension  that  voluntary  con- 
tribution might  prove  occasional  and  temporary.  '  The  var- 
ious rates  and  taxes  upon  the  people  were  not  lessening  and 
were  becoming  a  real  burden;  distress  was  general  throughout 
the  country.  *  After  a  peace  of  five  years  no  considerable 
improvement  had  taken  place  in  any  branch  of  industry. 
And  so  it  was  that  Brougham  felt  compelled  to  demand  the  aid 
of  Parliament  for  establishing  a  system  of  elementary  educa- 
tion for  the  people. 

The  plan  presented  was  under  four  heads:  I.  Foundation 
of  Schools;  II.  Appointment  and  Removal  of  Masters;  III. 
Admission  of  Scholars  and  their  Mode  of  Tuition;  IV.  Im- 
provement of  Old  Education  Endowments.  " 

I.      Foundation  of  Schools. 

The  ecdlesiastical  division  of  the  districts  was  adopted. 
The  initiative  for  proceeding  could  be  taken  by  the     grand 
jury  at  the  Easter  sessions;  the  rector,  vicar,  perpetual  curate  or 


"Ibid.,  3  S.,  XXVII,  c.  1293. 
'*  Bdiinlbujngh  ReView,  33:   155. 
"  Hau&ard,  N.  S.,  II,  c.  49-89. 


for  Education  in  England  43 

actual  incumbent  of  each  parish;  two  justices  acting  for  a  di- 
vision in  an  ecclesiastical  district;  or  five  resident  household- 
ers. 

The  tribunal  which  would  then  adjudicate  on  the  subject 
was  the  quarter  sessions.  The  cost  of  building  the  schools 
was  to  be  provided  by  the  treasurer  of  the  county  and  was  to 
be  placed  to  the  public  account.  Otherw^ise  there  might 
be  an  impediment  to  the  establishment  of  schools,  for  the 
householders  might  be  deterred  from  making  application  for 
a  new  school  by  the  apprehension  of  being  called  upon  at  once 
for  a  considerable  amount.  Brougham  advocated  mak- 
ing them  nothing  but  school-houses  in  the  strictest  sense — 
"buildings  where  the  master  and  his  wife,  with  a  guardian 
to  assist  him,  might  reside,  but  in  w^hich  no  boarders  should 
be  admitted".  All  other  expenses  were  to  be  levied  as 
a  school  rate  by  the  parish  officers  half-yearly.  The  sal- 
ary of  the  master,  for  example,  should  fall  on  the  coun- 
try gentlemen.  It  was  thought  that  only  those  parishes 
or  districts  that  had  not  already  voluntarily  provided  the 
means  of  education  should  bear  that  expense,  and  if  the  salary 
were  locally  controlled  there  would  be  a  certain  degree  of 
control  of  the  master's  conduct  as  w^ell.  It  w^as  not  to  be  less 
than  £20  or  more  than  £30.  It  might  be  objected  'that  this 
was  a  great  deal  too  little;  but  Brougham  did  not  wish  for 
sinecurists,  or  to  take  from  teachers  the  desire  of  obtaining  day 
pupils.  He  deemed  it  important  that  they  should  find  their 
own  interests  immediately  concerned  in  this  particular.  It  w^as, 
in  fact,  important  and  it  w^as  his  great  object,  that  while 
measures  were  adopted  for  bringing  education  home  to  the 
doors  of  all,  all  should  still  pay  a  little  for  it.  He  was  desir- 
ous of  seeing  the  instructor  live  by  his  art,  and  obtain  some 
remuneration  from  each  of  his  pupils  for  his  pains  and  the  ad- 
vantages which  he  communicated.  He,  however,  allowed  a 
pow^er  of  increasing  the  salary  with  the  concurrence  of  tw^o 
thirds  of  the  householders  paying  the  school  rate. 


44  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

II.  Appointment  and  Removal  of  Masters. 

The  master  had  to  be  between  twenty-four  and  forty  years 
of  age,  had  to  be  a  member  of  the  Established  Church  and 
must  have  taken  the  sacrament  one  month  before  election. 
He  had  to  present  a  certificate  of  charaoter  from  a  clergyman 
and  three  householders  or  from  a  clergyman  and  two  house- 
holders of  tw^o  parishes.  Parish  clerks  w^ere  specially  men- 
tioned as  being  eligible. 

The  master  was  to  be  elected  by  the  resident  housekeepers, 
rated  to  the  school  raiites,  w^ith  the  senior  parish  officer  presid- 
ing and  having  the  casting  vote.  The  parson  was  to  have  a 
real  and  effectual  veto. 

A  bis'hop  or  archdeacon  or  dean  or  chancellor  was  to  have 
the  power  of  visitation.  Su<ih  visitor  could  remove  a  master, 
who  Would  then  have  to  appeal  from  the  subordinate  visitor 
to  the  ordinary  and  from  the  ordinary  to  the  metropolitan. 
All  of  these  would  decide  privately  and  not  as  courts.  The 
visitor  could  also  direct  that  a  master  after  fifteen  years  of 
service  should  be  superannuated  with  a  pension  not  over  two 
thirds  of  his  salary.  The  parson  w^as  to  be  allowed  at  all 
times  to  enter  the  schools  and  examine  the  children.  The  dio- 
cesan was  to  make  yearly  returns  of  the  names  of  the  masters, 
the  number  of  children,  their  care,  the  salaries  and  the  average 
emoluments,  and  to  make  remarks  thereupon. 

III.  Admission  of  Scholars  and  the  Mode  of  Tuition, 
(a)      Admission  of  Scholars. 

The  parson  with  the  parish  officers  as  assessors  was  to  fix 
the  scale  of  the  school  pence.  This  was  to  be  not  less  than 
2d.  and  not  more  than  4d.  a  w^eek.  For  children  receiving 
parish  relief  the  rate  was  to  be  2s.  per  quarter  or  2d.  per  w^eek. 
If  their  parents  could  pay  this  sum,  so  much  the  better;  if  not, 
parish  officers  w^ould  defray  the  expense.  Betw^een  those  who 
were  thus  paid  for  and  those  w^hose  parents  defrayed  the 
charge  Brougham  said  he  woulld  allow  no  distinction     to     be 


for  Education  in  England  45 

drawn.  He  would  "never  suffer  the  spirits  of  poor  children 
to  be  beat  down  and  broken  by  such  a  distinction",  but  would 
"alw^ays,  on  the  contrary,  store  their  minds,  as  much  as  pos- 
sible, w^ith  the  seeds  of  independence". 

Parents  were  to  be  allowed  to  agree  with  masters  for  extra 
hours,  or  extra  tuition,  as  they  might  think  proper. 

(b)       Mode  of  Tuition. 

The  parson  on  each  new  appointment  of  a  master  was  to 
fix  a  course  of  teaching.  The  three  R's  w^ere  to  be  taught  in 
all  of  the  schools  to  all  of  the  children  of  fit  age.  In  religion 
the  Scriptures  alone  were  to  be  taught,  the  parson  having  the 
privilege  of  fixing  the  passage  to  be  rehearsed.  There  was  to 
be  no  form  of  worship  except  The  Lord's  Prayer  and  other 
passages  from  the  Scriptures,  so  that  no  sectary  could  refuse 
to  send  his  children  to  one  of  these  schools.  The  children 
w^ere  obliged  to  attend  church  once  every  Sunday  with  their 
parents  or  the  master;  Dissenters  could  take  their  children  to 
their  own  churches  or  chapels.  Every  Sunday  evening  there 
was  to  be  a  school  meeting  for  teaching  the  church  catechism 
and  other  portions  of  the  liturgy  and  all  children  were  to  at- 
tend except  those  of  Dissenters  w^ho  might  object. 

IV.      Improvements  of  Old  Education  Endowments. 

Trustees  were  to  be  enabled  to  apply  to  the  Court  of  Chan- 
cery or  any  of  the  courts  of  equity  for  the  correction  of  cer- 
tain deficiencies  in  the  pow^ers  granted  them  in  their  charters, 
and  were  to  be  enabled  to  improve  the  administration  and 
application  of  the  funds. 

The  trustees  of  the  grammar  schools  were  to  contract  with 
the  masters  to  teach  the  three  R's.  This  was  to  be  voluntary 
with  the  present  incumbents  but  binding  on  those  next  ap- 
pointed. The  trustees  w^ere  also  to  make  the  number  of 
children,  now  limited,  unlimited  and  were  to  prohibit  the  tak- 
ing of  boarders.  Where  any  charity  establishments,  originally 
designed  for  the  purpose  of  boarding,  lodging  and     clothing, 


46  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

as  well  as  for  educating  the  poor  children,  were  found  de- 
ficient in  funds,  those  establishments  were  to  be  confined  to 
education  alone.  For  Brougham  made  it  clear  that  it  was  no 
part  of  his  views,  "to  establish  hospitals  for  the  children  of 
paupers,  by  making  a  provision  to  board,  lodge  and  clothe 
them".  Such  institutions  were  in  his  judgment  too  much  cal- 
culated to  remove  every  salutary  check  to  an  over-abundant 
population  and,  therefore,  ought  to  be  deprecated. 

Where  the  founder  had  designed  that  the  children  were  to 
be  taught  in  existing  schools,  the  trustees  were  to  treat  with 
the  ministers  and  the  parish  officers,  or  with  two  justices  of 
the  peace  for  having  the  children  permanently  taught  in  the 
parish  schools.  Or  where  funds  were  provided  and  no  en- 
dowed school  was  in  existence,  the  funds  were  to  be  applied 
in  aid  of  the  parisih  schools.  In  both  these  cases  the  names  of 
the  founders  were  to  be  placed  on  tablets  on  the  outside  and 
inside  of  the  school  house. 

If  all  parties  agreed  that  an  endowed  school  should  be  put 
on  the  same  footing  with  the  parish  school,  no  objection 
coiild  be  made  to  that  arrangement  and  the  master  was  then 
subject  to  the  approval  of  the  parson. 

The  first  three  sections  of  the  plan  were  a  modiBcation  of 
the  parish  school  system  of  Scotland,  established  in  1  698. 
There  such  a  plan  had  been  started,  to  have  universal  appli- 
cation, at  a  time  when  few  schools  were  in  existence.  In  Eng- 
land the  situation  w^as  different;  the  ground  was  already  oc- 
cupied in  great  part  by  the  two  societies  and  groups  who  had 
voluntarily  undertaken  the  task  of  educating  the  people.  For 
this  reason  it  was  impossible  to  impose  a  system  w^hich  would 
at  once  supersede  those  recognized  and  established  institu- 
tions. According  to  the  proposed  bill  the  legislature  was  not 
requiring  a  school  in  every  parish  but  it  was  providing  a 
scheme  whereby,  at  the  initiative  of  the  localities,  deficiencies 
in  the  means  of  education  could     be  met.     When     a     school 


for  Education  in  England  47 

would  be  decided  upon,  the  schoolrate  would  become  bind- 
ing. 

But  an  obligatory  school  rate  was  not  the  same  as  a  com- 
pulsory system.  The  measure,  as  has  been  so  often  inferred, 
in  no  sense  provided  for  compulsory  education.  There  was  no 
suggestion  that  parents,  under  the  rigor  of  punishment, 
should  be  forced  to  send  their  children  to  school.  The  object 
was  to  make  education  so  feasible  that  no  one  would  refuse 
to  send  his  children  to  one  of  the  schools.  All  were  invited 
rather  than  compelled. 

The  novel  feature  of  the  bill  was  the  power  which  it  placed 
in  the  hands  of  the  Church  of  England.  The  memory  of  the 
strength  of  the  pre'lates  in  1818,  in  their  opposition  to  the  bill 
for  the  charity  commission,  was  so  recent  that  Brougham  con- 
cluded he  could  secure  the  main  objects  of  his  bill  only  by 
large  concessions  to  them.  In  presenting  the  bill  he  extolled 
the  fine  character  of  the  well-educated  and  pious  English 
Churchmen,  who  had  manifested  great  zeal  in  the  investiga- 
tions of  the  education  committees.  "  Rdigious  education  he 
felt  was  most  essential  and  it  would  be  assured  if  under  the 
Church. 

In  taking  such  a  course,  Brougham  alienated  the  support 
of  the  British  and  Foreign  School  Society,  and  was  accused 
of  deserting  their  principles.  '  The  whole  quesition  of  popu- 
lar education  became  complicated  by  matters  of  religious 
controversy  and  jealousy.  Brougham  had  expressed  the  de- 
sire that  the  measure  should  not  be  pressed  too  hastily,  in 
order  that  advantages  might  result  from  discussion  in  and  out 
of  Parliament.  For  this  he  had  not  long  to  wait.  Before  the 
second  reading  the  cry  was  made  that  the  Church  supported 
the  bill  and  Roman  Catholics  and  Dissenters  rose  in  alarm.  " 


*«  lUd.,  N.  S.,  11,  c.  73. 

"  Bininis,  p.  101. 

■«  Hainsard,  N.  S.,  II,  c.  365. 


48  TTie  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

It  was  supposed  in  consequence  of  the  system's  being  con- 
nected with  the  Established  Church,  that  it  was  intended  to 
compel  children  of  various  denominations  to  attend  Protestant 
worship.  This  feeling  had  operated  so  powerfully  that  some 
members  of  these  two  bodies  had  addressed  queries  to  him  on 
the  subject.  It  was  asked  by  one  party  if  it  were  not  true  that 
it  was  intended  to  comipel  Roman  Catholics  to  send  their 
children  to  Protestant  schools  and  Protestant  worship;  and 
certain  Dissenters,  seeming  to  consider  this  a  bill  introduced 
for  the  purpose  of  "rooting  out  the  last  remains  of  religious 
liberty  in  the  country"  had  formed  a  "Committee  for  the  Pro- 
tection of  Religious  Liberty"  to  watch  its  progress.  Brougham 
insisted  that  there  was  not  a  man  in  the  House,  or  in  the 
country,  more  averse  to  anything  harsh  or  intolerant  than  he 
was.  He  was  the  last  man  to  keep  up  tests  unless  they  were 
absolutely  necessary  and  much  less  w^ould  he  assist  in  extend- 
ing them.  It  was  in  vain  that  he  reminded  the  Dissenters 
that  ,he  left  the  door  of  the  school  which  he  proposed  to  es- 
tablish "not  only  ajar,  but  thrown  right  back  on  its  hinges" 
for  the  admission  of  their  children.  They  met,  they  com- 
bined, they  reasoned.  Brougham  said  they  felt  more  than 
they  reasoned,  and  they  were  more  led  by  their  passions,  than 
by  either  their  feelings  or  their  reason.  Behind  his  back  "they 
candidly  avowed  their  opinion,  they  amicably  stated  their 
reasons,  they  strenuously  propounded  their  principles,  they 
constantly  urged  their  claims".  Time  after  time  Brougham 
met  them  in  consultation,  in  debate,  in  public  and  in  private, 
and  during  ^the  whole  time  that  these  discussions  were  carried 
on,  he  made  but  one  convert.  "The  Church  wished  for  edu- 
cation; but  they  wished  to  keep  down  the  sects  a  little  more. 
The  Dissenters  wished  for  education;  but  they  wished  to  pull 
down  the  Church  a  little  more."  " 

"Ibid.,  3  S.,  L.,  c.  592. 


for  Education  in  England  49 

The  bill  was  read  the  second  time  on  July  1  2  and  consid- 
ered in  the  committee  of  the  Whole  on  July  1  3.  The  Churcl^ 
party  itself  only  feebly  supported  it,  '"  and  such  was  the  op- 
position of  the  Dissenters  that  when  Brougham  thought  that 
he  had  come  to  a  full  understanding  with  them  and  that  the 
measure  might  be  carried,  he  was  compelled  to  withdraw  it 
"out  of  deference  to  their  objections"  and  from  his  "sincere 
respect  for  them  as  fellow-ilaborers  of  many  years  in  the 
cause  of  education".  "  It  was  ordered  that  the  bill  should  be 
further  considered  on  that  day  six  months;  which,  as  that 
date  would  fall  beyond  the  adjournment  of  Parliament,  was 
tantamount  to  a  defeat.  *" 

Section  IV.  dealing  with  Improvements  in  Old  Education 
Endowments  and  to  w^hich  so  much  objection  could  not  be 
raised,  had  been  made  into  a  separate  bill,  but  this,  too,  met 
the  same  fate,  when  on  the  following  day  its  further  consid- 
eration w^as  postponed  three  m'onths.  " 


*"  Ibid.,  3  S.,  CXXXY,  c.  550. 

"  Ebild.,  3  S.,  CXXXIII,  c.  1. 

•=  Journal  of  H.  of  C,  Viol.  75,  p.  447. 

« Ibid.,  Vdl.  75,  p.  452. 


50  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

CHAPTER  III 
THE  INFANT  SCHOOL 

While  Brougham  had  been  trying  to  secure  a  national  sys- 
tem of  elementary  education  he  was  personally  interested  in 
another  phase  of  the  subject,  with  which  he  deemed  govern- 
mental interference  extremely  inexpedient. 

In  1813  Robert  Owen,  a  cotton  manfacturer  of  Scotland, 
had  formulated  and  brought  to  London  his  "New  View  of 
Society",  ^  a  plan  for  the  regeneration  of  the  w^orld  through 
the  formation  of  human  character.  Convinced  that  existing 
social  conditions  w^ere  all  wrong,  he  called  upon  the  Govern- 
ment to  stop  the  progress  of  distress  among  the  working  classes 
and  proposed  that  a  commission  be  appointed  to  examine  the 
effects  of  his  cooperative  plan  at  New  Lanark.  He  repeatedly 
pressed  petitions  upon  Parliament  and  it  w^as  Henry  Brougham 
■whom  he  usually  secured  to  present  them.  " 

For  Owen  personally,  Brougham  had  the  highest  respect 
and  esteem.  He  thought  him  one  of  the  most  humane,  simple- 
minded,  amiable  men  on  earth.  He  said  he  -was  indeed  a  rare 
character;  for  althougih  a  reformer  he  was  one  of  the  calmest 
and  most  candid  men  he  had  ever  conversed  with. 

"You  might  discuss  his  theories  in  any  terms  you  pleased — 
you  might  dispose  of  his  arguments  just  as  you  thought 
proper;  and  he  listened  with  the  utmost  mildness.  His  nature 
"was  perfectly  free  from  any  gall,  he  had  none  of  the  feverish 
or  irritable  feeling  which  too  generally  belonged  to  project- 
ors." ' 

*  "A  New  Viiew  'Of  Sooiety  or  Essays  on  the  Prin'oiple  -of  the  Fonna- 
itrijODi  of  Human  Charaater  amd  the  Ajpplication  lorf  the  Principle  to  Prac- 
tilce."    Rolbert  Owen.     1813. 

^Cf.  Owen 'is  Auitobioigraiphy  Voil.  I,  p.  132;  Hansard,  XLI,  c.  1198; 
Hansard,  3  S.,  LXXXVIII,  c.  699;  Hansiard,  3  S.,  XOIX,  c.  501;  Han- 
aaird,  3  S.,  CXVIII,  c.  124. 

'  Speecih  of  Brougham,  Hansard,  XLI,  c.  1195. 

There  was  a  strong  resemiWanoe  lin  appearance  betwieen  DrougtLaaxi 
and  Owen.  In  his  Autobiography,  Owen  recounts  with  all-concealed 
p.ride  'that  on  a  journey  from  Damdon  to  Scotland  children  followed 
Ms  carriage  under  ithe  impressiion  that  Brougham  was  within.  Owen's 
Autobiography,  Vol.  I,  p.  228. 


for  Education  in  England  5  1 

Brougham  conceived  that  the  theory  on  which  Owen's 
scheme  w^as  founded  was  Wholly  erroneous,  but  that  certain 
paxts  of  the  plan  w^ere  peculiarly  entitled  to  consideration. 
"The  system  proposed  and  acted  upon  by  Mr.  CHven  in  train- 
ing infant  children,  before  they  w^ere  susceptible  of  What  was 
generally  called  education,  was  deserving  of  the  utmost  atten- 
tion." * 

Ow^en  had  been  called  to  explain  his  system  of  schools  be- 
fore the  Select  Committee  on  Education  in  1816.'  In  that 
year  "The  New^  Institution"  had  been  opened  at  New  Lanark, 
an  important  part  of  which  w^as  the  "Infant  School". 

Independent  of  any  work  on  the  continent  Ow^en  had  origi- 
nated this  form  of  school  as  a  means  of  checking  the  evil  ef- 
fect of  the  factory  system  on  children.  He  had  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  houses  of  the  poor  and  w^orking  people 
were  unfit  for  the  training  of  the  young,  and  that  the  infant 
school  Was  necessary,  based  on  the  principle  of  forming  char- 
acter from  the  earliest  period  at  w^hich  children  could  leave 
their  parents. 

More  than  a  hundred  children  from  three  to  six  years  of 
age  were  brought  together  under  tw^o  guardians,  James  Bu- 
chanan and  May  Young.  No  attempt  was  made  to  teach 
them  reading  or  writing  but  much  of  their  time  was  spent  in  a 
spacious  playground  where  they  were  amused  with  games  and 
stories.  They  were  trained  to  habits  of  order  and  cleanliness, 
and  were  constantly  superintended  to  prevent  their  acquiring 
bad  habits  and  to  form  their  dispositions  to  mutual  kindness. 
TTiese  results  were  chiefly  accomplished  by  example  and 
practice,  as  precept  was  found  to  be  of  little  use. 

The  fame  of  the  institution  had  spread  rapidly  and  thou- 
sands of  visitors     went     to     examine     and     criticize.     Henry 


*  Hanisamd,  XLJ,  c.  1195. 

»P.  P.,  Vol.  408,  p.  240. 

'  Owen's  Ajuitabilography,  Vol.  I,  p.  135. 


52  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

Brougham  went  frequently  and  CKven  says  "enjoyed  the 
goodness,  happiness  and  intelligence  of  the  children  in  these 
rational  surroundings".  ' 

Brougham  was  greatly  impressed  by  the  importance;  of  this 
kind  of  school  and  repeatedly  commented  on  its  value.  If  a 
dhild  were  neglected  till  six  years  of  age  no  subsequent  edu- 
cation, he  said,  could  recover  it.  If  to  that  age  it  was  brought 
up  in  dissipation  and  ignorance  it  was  in  vain  to  attempt  to 
reclaim  it  by  teaching  it  reading  and  writing.  An  infant  was 
in  a  state  of  perpetual  enjoyment  from  the  intensity  of  curi- 
osity. It  learned  everything  sooner  and  better  than  at  any 
other  period  of  life  and  without  any  burden  to  itself  or  the 
teacher.  But  learning  was  not  all,  nor  the  principal  consider- 
ation— ^moral  habits  were  acquired  in  these  schools;  and  by 
their  means  children  were  kept  out  of  nurseries  of  obscenity, 
vulgarity,  vice  and  blasphemy.  Whether  they  learned  less 
or  more  was  of  little  consequence.  The  moral  discipline  w^as 
the  great  consideration.  It  broug'ht  the  mind  of  the  child 
into  sufficient  discipline  by  the  age  of  six  years,  to  give  it  all 
the  advantages  of  the  Lancastrian  system  afterwards. ' 

Brougham  had,  also,  while  on  the  continent,  visited  the  es- 
tablishment for  infant  education  carried  on  since  1  806  by 
Fellenberg  at  Hofwyl,  Switzerland.  "  But  this  plan  he  deemed 
better  suited  to  an  agricultural  district  where  the  population 
was  scattered,  for  the  children  remained  at  the  school  both 
night  and  day. 

Owen's  plan  he  considered  better  adapted  to  manufactur- 
ing districts  and  had  the  advantage  of  separating  the  chil- 
dren from  their  parents  only  during  the  day.  It  was  calculated 
to  improve  the  domestic  habits  of  the  people,  "the  child  being 
allowed,  by  remaining  with  its  father  and  mother,  to  acquire 
those  social  and  domestic  habits  which  were  of  so  much  value 


'  Ubild.,  Vol.  I.  (p.  142. 

•  iHamsiard,  N.  IS.,  II,  c.  87. 

•Ibi'd.,  XLI,  c.  1197. 


for  Education  in  England  53 

in  life,  which  begat  strong  ties  of  affection,  some  of  the  best 
and  most  secure  bonds  of  mutual  assistance".  This  system 
tended  also  by  a  sort  of  reflex  operation  to  improve  the  habits 
of  the  parents  themselves;  for  in  the  presence  of  children  so 
trained  "they  would  be  ashamed  of  intoxication,  or  swearing 
or  any  habits  that  might  pollute  the  minds  or  offend  the  feel- 
ings of  those  who  were  the  objects  of  their  attachment". '° 

With  a  view^  of  making  an  experiment  of  this  plan, 
Brougham  and  a  small  group  of  men,  "  who  were  also  inter- 
ested in  the  subject,  met  together  in  1818  and  subscribed 
£100  each  to  a  stock  purse  for  the  esitablishment  of  a  .day 
school  in  Brew^er's  Green,  Westminster,  where  children  be- 
tween three  and  five  years  of  age  should  be  admitted;  and  for 
the  position  of  master  they  secured  James  Buchanan  from 
Ow^en.  The  school  was  opened  in  November  and  for  three 
mornings  Brougham  with  the  Marquis  of  Lansdowne  per- 
sonally received  the  children.  " 

On  December  1 6,  1 8 1 9,  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
Brougham  said  that  the  institution  was  going  on  in  the  most 
satisfactory  manner,  so  satisfactory  indeed  that  although  origi- 
nating in  the  charity  of  individuals,  it  was  soon  likely  to  be 
supported  by  the  interest  of  those  who  were  immediately 
benefited  by  its  existence.  He  expected  it  to  compete  with 
dame  schools  "which  had  heretofore  proved  so  vcy  useful 
and  to  which  (while  children  of  nine  or  ten  years  of  age  were 
too  often  allowed  to  walk  about  almost  as  ignorant  as 
beasts)  infants  were  sent,  to  keep  them  out  of  harm's  way, 
while  their  mothers  went  to  work".  Parents  would  naturally 
rather  pay  quarter-pence  to  the  infant  school  than  to  dame 
schools.  '' 


"  IbM.,  XLI,  c.  1195. 

"  :\Lr.  John  Smith;  the  Marqiuiis  of  Laosdowne ;  Mr.  James  Mill;  Mr. 
FowoU  Buxtom;  Mr."  WiLlberforce;  Mr.  Wilson;  Mr.  Beniamiin  Smith; 
Mr.  Henry  Haae;  Lord  Ducie.  Cf.  Owen's  Aultobiography,  Viol.  I,  p. 
142;  Hansiard,  3  S.,  LXXXVIII,  c.  274;  Hansard,  3  S.,  CXVIII,  c.  124. 

"  Hanisiard,  3  S.,  LXXXVIII,  c.  699. 

"  Ihid.,  XLI,  c.  1198. 


54  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

He  anticipated  that  the  latter  would  get  into  better  hands 
and  be  better  conducted.  If  they  were  modeled  after  the 
school  in  Westminster  and  the  schools  of  Fellenberg  and 
Owen,  he  would  not  say  that  there  would  be  neither  pauper 
nor  criminal  in  England,  but  he  would  say  that  Scotland  or 
Switzerland  would  not  have  fewer  than  England  even  in  sea- 
port tow^ns.  The  expense  of  the  infant  schools  w^as  quite 
trivial.  They  required  but  little  money  and  a  dame  of  good 
temper,  who  might  let  the  children  indulge  in  any  amuse- 
ment, always  taking  care,  however,  to  keep  them  out  of  im- 
proper company.  " 

But  he  was  convinced  that  the  assistance  of  the  government 
was  not  essential  to  the  advancement  of  the  movement,  as  the 
interests  of  that  subject  might  be  very  safely  intrusted  to  the 
private  beneficence  of  the  country.  ^' 

To  Brougham's  delight  the  scheme  met  with  success.  Wil- 
son of  the  original  group  next  founded  a  school  in  Spital- 
fields  and  for  it  obtained  Wilderspin  as  the  teacher.  "  Wil- 
derspin  was  an  enterprising  exponent  of  the  new  idea  and  a 
voluminous  w^riter  who  did  much  to  popularize  the  move- 
ment. Other  schools  on  a  similar  principle  were  established 
in  various  parts  of  the  country  and  in  1836  "The  Home  and 
Colonial  Infant  School  Society"  was  formed  to  provide  train- 
ing schools  for  infant  school  teachers. 


"  Ibid.,  N.  S.,  II,  c.  87. 
"  Ibid.,  XLI,  c.  1195. 

Broiuglnam  later  changed  Ms  views  concerniinig  gorvernimenit    asssist- 
■arvce  to  Infant  Schools. 

"  Hansard,  3  S.,  LXXXVIII,  c.  274. 


for  Education  in  England  55 

CHAPTER  IV 
ADULT  EDUCATION 
A.      The  Mechanics'  Institute  and  the  Society  for  |the     Diffu- 
sion of  Useful  Knowledge. 

The  founding  of  elementary  and  infant  schools  was  not 
the  only  sign  of  educational  life  in  the  first  two  decades  of  the 
century.  That  period  had  witnessed  a  number  of  important 
discoveries  throwing  light  on  the  phenomena  of  nature  and 
art,  and  the  whole  country  was  excited  about  the  wonders 
of  geology,  electricity  and  chemistry.  A  thirst  for  knowledge 
seemed  to  have  arisen.  Everything  indicated  a  grow^ing 
spirit  of  inquiry,  an  increased  desire  for  and  with  it  a  greater 
power  of  acquiring  knowledge.  The  arts  and  the  manufac- 
tures had  made  rapid  strides  and  the  application  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  science  to  their  improvement  v^as  looked  to  with  san- 
guine expectations.  ^ 

This  prominence  of  science  w^as  responsible  for  a  movement 
of  the  most  important  kind,  Which  gave  a  clearly  defined  pur- 
pose and  shape  to  w^ants  that  the  progress  of  civilization  had 
created.  If  the  "Mechanics'  Institute"  had  not  been  discov- 
ered in  the  way  it  was,  the  time  had  come  when  it  must 
have  been  invented,  for  it  had  become  a  necessity  of  the  age. 

There  has  been  controversy  as  to  who  started  mechanics' 
institutes  but  the  highest  merit  seems  rather  for  first  making 
them  known  and  appreciated  than  for  any  actual  discovery. 
To  Dr.  Birkbeck  is  undoubtedly  due  the  honor  of  having  origi- 
nated the  system  of  offering  scientific  instruction  in  an  ac- 
cessible form  to  the  working  classes. '  As  Professor  of  Natural 
Philosophy  at  the  Andersonian  University,  Glasgow^,  he  had 
his  attention  drawn  to  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  intelligent 
artisans  who  w^ere  anxious  to  acquire  information  on  scientific 


'  Tailt's  Edinburgh  Magazine,  5:  521. 
^Hale,  p.  5. 


56  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

matters  and  he,  accordingly,  in   1  800,  established  courses     of 
lectures  to  which  working  men  were  admitted  at  a  low  fee. 

The  desirability  of  imparting  scientific  know^ledge  to 
w^orking  people  was  felt  by  others  as  well,  and  betw^een  1  800 
land  1823  the  propriety  of  attempting  this  and  the  mode  in 
w^hich  it  might  be  accomplished  were  discussed  in  several 
publications.  *  Some  efforts  were  actually  made  to  realize  the 
object.  In  1  8  1  7  an  institution  entitled  the  Mechanics*  Insti- 
tute w^as  established  in  London  °  and  in  1821  the  Edinburgh 
Society  of  Arts  w^as  started. '  In  1  82  3  the  mechanics'  class  at 
the  Andersonian  University  became  the  Qlasgow^  Mechanics' 
Institution.  '  But  neither  Dr.  Birkbeck's  labors  in  Glasgow 
nor  any  of  these  institutions  awakened  public  attention  to  the 
subject. 

It  was  in  1823  that  the  movement  received  its  first  real 
impetus.  In  an  article  in  the  Mechanics'  Magazine  of  October 
11,  1823,  ^  the  editors  proposed  an  institution  in  London 
similar  to  that  at  Glasgow.  The  proposition  met  w^ith  en- 
couragement from  the  master  mechanics,  the  workmen,  and 
the  friends  of  knowledge  and  improvement.  Dr.  Birkbeck 
assumed  the  lead  in  the  movement  and  on  November  15, 
1823  a  public  meeting  w^as  held,  a  subscription  was  com- 
menced and  rules  for  the  institute  prepared.  ^  A  letter  was 
read  from  Brougham  in  which  he  expressed  regret  at  his  in- 
ability to  attend,  but  commended  highly  the  objects  of  the 
institution  and  enclosed  a  liberal  donation  toward  its  estab- 
lishment. "     In  January  the  institute  was  opened  with  between 


'  nictio'njan-y  of  NaitiOinial  Biogirapliy,  lartidle  on  Dr.  Birkbeck,  Vol.  V. 
p.  80. 

*  Britiish  Quiarterdy  Revdew,  26 :    323. 

'^  Hale,  p.  5. 

'  Edinburgh  Review,  41:    109. 

'  Diot.  Nat.  Bioig.,  article  on  Dr.  Birkbeck,  Vol.  V.,  p.  80. 

"  Mechanics'  Magazine,  1 :  99. 

"Ibid.,  1:   177. 

'"Ibid.,  1:   178. 


for  Education  in  England  57 

twelve  and  thirteen  hundred  workmen  enrolled,  each  pay- 
ing I  £.  Lectures  on  Mechanics  and  Chemistry  were  begun 
and  soon  Geometry,  Hydrostatics,  Astronomy  and  the  Appli- 
cation of  Chemistry  to  the  Arts  and  Manufactures  were  add- 
ed. At  the  meetings  Brougham  was  almost  always  present, 
"encouraging  by  his  deep  attention  to  the  lectures  the  atten- 
tion of  others".  "  And  in  June  he  was  publicly  thanked  for 
his  exertions  in  behalf  of  the  institute.  '" 

Temporary  accommodations  had  been  provided  in  the 
chapel  in  Monkwell  Street;  but  as  it  was  soon  desirable  to 
place  the  establishment  upon  a  permanent  footing,  a  site  was 
secured  at  the  Southampton  Buildings,  Chancery-lane.  Here 
it  was  proposed  to  erect  a  theater  for  the  accommodation  of 
a  thousand  students,  and  commodious  apartments  for  a  li- 
brary, apparatus,  reading  rooms  and  offices.  "  At  the  ban- 
quet upon  the  occasion  of  laying  the  cornerstone  on  Decem- 
ber II,  1824,  Brougham,  after  proposing  the  health  of  Dr. 
Birkbeck,  made  an  urgent  appeal  for  apparatus  and  books.  " 
The  building  was  completed  on  July  8,  I  825  and  was  opened 
by  Dr.  Birkbeck  "supported  by  his  Roya!l  Highness  the  Duke 
of  Sussex,  the  Marquis  of  Lansdowne,  Sir  R.  Wilson,  Messrs. 
Brougham,  Wood,  Hume,  Martin  and  other  zealous  friends 
of  popular  education".  ^^ 

It  was  the  work  of  the  patrons  to  help  in  the  establishment 
in  the  first  instance  but  the  whole  body  of  contributors  were 
on  the  same  footing  of  members  and  proprietors.  The  man- 
agement was  entrusited  to  committees  of  which  two  thirds  at 
least  w^ere  w^orking  mechanics,  and  the  funds  w^ere  raised  by 
the  subscriptions  of  tae  v^orking  classes  in  order      to      secure 


"  Ibid.,  2 :  125. 

"Ibid.,  2:  221. 

"Ediin.  Rev.,  41:  115. 

"  MechQjnios'  Mag.,  3:  189. 

"Bddii.  Rev.,  42:  502. 


58  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

the  permanence  of  the  institution  and  to  avoid  the  feeling  of 
dependence.  " 

As  in  the  case  of  the  other  branches  of  education, 
Brougham  was  not  the  founder  or  originator  of  the  move- 
ment. He,  as  a  friend  of  popular  education,  was  an  active 
promoter  of  a  plan,  which  he  highly  approved.  But  the 
London  Mechanics'  Institute,  like  the  other  institutions  which 
preceded  it,  was  an  isolated  effort.  It  remained  for  Brougham 
to  reaJlize  the  possibilities  presented,  to  popularize  the  move- 
ment and  make  "the  sacred  thirst  for  science  epidemic  ".  By 
an  artidle  in  the  October,  1824,  issue  of  the  Edinburgh  Re- 
view "  he  brought  the  subject  prominently  before  the  public 
for  the  first  time.  In  January,  1825,  this  article  was  em- 
bodied in  a  pamphlet  entitled  "Practical  Observations  on 
the  Education  of  the  People",  and  before  the  end  of  the  year 
the  pamphlet  had  reached  its  twentieth  edition.  ''  Upon  the 
principles  outlined  in  this  dissertation  mechanics'  institutes 
were  to  be  founded  throughout  the  kingdom. 

Brougham  first  justified  his  attention  to  adult  education.  " 
The  "Practical  Observations"  was  a  portion  of  a  larger  dis- 
course w^hich  he  had  been  prevented  from  finishing  upon  the 
subject  of  popular  education  in  its  three  branches,  infant 
schools,  elementary  schools  for  reading  and  writing,  and 
adult  schools.  He  had  endeavored  to  establish  infant 
schools,  he  had  repeatedly  brought  the  subject  of  e^lementary 
education  before  Parliament,  and  so  it  seemed  to  follow  that 
he  should  lend  his  powers  toward  fixing  public  attention 
upon  the  education  of  adults,  by  discussing  the  best  ineans 
of  aiding  the  people  in  using  the  knowledge  gained  at 
schools  for  their  moral  and  intellectual  improvement.  The 
planting  of  schools  for  the  young  and  the  assisting  of  those 
more  advanced  in  their  studies  were  enterprises  which  might 

"LbM.,  42:  499. 

"Ibid.,  41:  96. 

'*  Biraugibam'ts  Words,  ed.  by  A.  &  C.  Black,  11    vols.,  BMiiograpbical 

iJiisit,  Nioi.  4. 

"  Speeclies,  Vol.  III.  p.  99— "Practical  Obsenvatioiiis". 


for  Education  in  England  59 

well  go  on  together  and  prove  mutually  helpful.  There  was 
no  reason  to  wait  until  elementary  education  had  been  com- 
pleted. It  w^as  "as  if  a  whole  village  .wouild  wait  for  break- 
fast until  everyone  got  up  in  the  morning".  On  the  con- 
trary, the  deficiency  in  the  proportion  of  schools  to  the  popu- 
lation of  the  country  would  in  all  probability  be  much  dimin- 
ished if  usefull  knowledge  were  diffused  among  all  those  who 
had  already  learned  to  read.  The  greater  use  they  made  of 
this  acquirement,  the  more  widely  would  the  desire  of  having 
it  be  spread. 

"A  father  of  a  family  who  can  barely  read,  and  has  turned 
this  talent  to  little  account  in  improving  his  mind,  may  leave 
his  children  uneducated  unless  the  means  of  instruction  are 
afforded  ,him  by  the  state  or  by  some  other  charity;  but  one 
who  has  made  some  progress  in  science,  or  in  acquiring  gen- 
eral information  will  rather  sacrifice  any  personal  comfort 
than  suffer  his  children  to  be  uneducated." 

It  was  far,  therefore,  from  being  true,  that  they  should 
wait  till  schools  were  provided  for  all  and  till  all  could  read 
before  they  shouid  consider  how^  those  who  could  read 
might  best  turn  that  faculty  to  account. 

But  a  fundamental  principle  merited  attention  in  discussing 
the  subject.  The  assistance  of  the  Government  might  be  not 
only  safe  but  advantageous  and  even  necessary  in  providing 
the  means  of  elementary  education  for  children;  any  med- 
dling v/ith  infant  education  would  be  inexpedient;  but  no 
such  interference  cculd  be  tolerated,  to  the  smallesit  extent, 
with  the  subsequent  instruction  of  the  people.  If  a  child  be 
only  taught  to  read  and  write,  it  was  immaterial  by  whom 
and  on  what  terms,  but  once  suffer  the  least  interference 
with  the  use  to  be  made  of  these  tools  and  the  Government 
had  made  a  step  towards  absolute  pow^er.  Such  a  jealousy 
as  he  sought  to  inculcate  he  thought  the  more  essentially 
necessary  in  a  country — 


60  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 


"Where  the  existence  of  an  Established  Church,  with  its 
appendages  of  universities  ^nd  puWic  schools,  has  already 
thrown  reiligious  instruction  into  the  hands  of  a  particular 
class,  and  given  the  government  great  influence  over  the  edu- 
cation, generally  of  the  upper  classes.  In  such  a  community, 
any  interference  with  the  diffusion  of  knowledge  among  the 
great  body  of  the  people  w^ould  be  pregnant  v/ith  the  most 
fatal  consequences  both  to  civil  and  religious  liberty." 

It  was  manifest,  he  stated,  that  the  peoplle  themse'lves  had 
to  be  the  great  agents  in  accomplishing  the  w^ork  of  their  own 
education.  Unless  they  were  thoroughly  impressed  with  a 
sense  of  its  usefulness  and  resolved  to  make  some  sacrifices 
for  the  ax:quisition  of  it,  there  could  be  no  reasonable  pros- 
pect of  the  grand  object's  being  attained.  And  so  he  began 
by  assuming  that  there  was  no  class  in  the  community  so  en- 
tirely occupied  with  labor  as  not  to  have  an  hour  or  tw^o  every 
other  day,  at  least,  to  bestow  upon  the  pleasure  of  improve- 
ment to  be  derived  from  reading — or  so  poor  as  not  to  have 
the  means  of  contributing  something  toward  purchasing  this 
gratification,  the  enjoyment  of  which,  besides  the  present 
amusement,  was  the  surest  way  to  raise  their  character  and 
better  their  condition. 

The  difficulties  which  the  people  faced  he  classed  under 
two  heads — want  of  money  and  want  of  time.  To  the  first 
belonged  the  impossibility  of  obtaining  those  books  and  in- 
sitructors  which  persons  in  easy  circumstances  cou'ld  com- 
mand; and  to  the  second  the  fact  that  the  same  books  and 
instructors  were  not  adapted  to  them,  which  sufficed  to 
teach  persons  with  leisure  to  go  through  the  Whole  course  of 
any  given  branch  of  science. 

The  first  method,  then,  that  suggested  itself  for  promoting 
knowledge  among  the  poor  was  the  encouragement  of  cheap 
publications.  In  no  country  was  this  more  needed  than  in 
Great  Britain,  where  with  all  the  expertness  in  manufacturing, 


for  Education  in  England  61 

books  had  never  been  printed  at  so  little  as  double  the  price 
required  on  the  continent.  The  high  price  of  labor,  the  direct 
tax  on  paper,  the  determination  to  print  upon  paper  of  a  cer- 
tain price,  and  the  aversion  to  crowd  the  page  were  the  causes 
of  the  difference,  but,  it  w^as  suggested,  all  of  these  except  the 
first  could  be  obviated.  The  duty  on  paper  was  an  excise 
w^hich  had  been  levied  since  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne  and  at 
this  time  was  3d.  on  the  pound.  The  tax  increased  the  price 
of  an  octavo  volume  about  nine  pence.  If  a  book  were 
brought  as  low  as  possible  to  accommodate  the  poor  man, 
with  the  coarsest  paper  and  most  ordinary  type,  it  had  to  pay 
as  much  tax  as  the  finest  hot-pressed  work  of  tbe  same  size. 
This  tax,  it  was  felt,  should,  by  all  means,  be  given  up.  But, 
though  no  part  of  it  couild  be  saved  by  using  coarse  paper, 
much  could  be  saved  by  crowding  the  letter  press  and  by  hav- 
ing a  very  narrow  margin. 

The  method  of  publishing  in  numbers  was  admirably  suited 
to  the  circumstances  of  the  poor.  Two  pence  could  easily  be 
saved  in  a  week  by  almost  any  laborer  and  by  a  mechanic  six 
pence  in  a  week  might  without  difficulty  be  laid  by. 

Although  the  provision  of  cheap  publications  furnished  the 
most  effectual  means  of  bringing  knowledge  within  the  reach 
of  a  poor  man's  income,  other  modes  of  rendering  a  similar 
assistance  were  circulating  libraries  and  book  clubs. 

In  addition,  societies  for  the  promotion  of  conversation 
were  a  most  useful  adjunct  to  any  private  education  received 
by  the  working  classes.  It  was  suggested  that  master  work- 
men assist  by  giving  an  hour  off  on  the  days  when  the  meet- 
ings were  held,  and  by  providing  a  place  for  the  meeting. 

But  the  institution  of  lectures  was  of  all  helps  that  could  be 
given  the  most  valuable,  where  circumstances  permitted,  i.  e. 
in  towns  of  a  considerable  size.  The  branches  best  adapted 
to  lectures  were  Mechanical  Philosophy,  Chemisjtry,  Mathe- 
matics, Astronomy,  Geology,  and  Moral  and  Political  Phil- 
osophy. .  '         /  1  1 


62  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 


"Much  may  thus  be  taught,  even  without  any  other  instruc- 
tion; but,  combined  with  reading,  and  subservient  to  it,  the 
effects  of  pubhc  lectures  are  great  indeed,  especially  in  the 
present  deficiency  of  proper  elementary  works.  The  stu- 
dents are  enabled  to  read  with  advantage;  things  are  explain- 
ed to  them  which  no  books  sufficiently  illustrate;  access  is  af- 
forded to  teachers,  w^ho  can  remove  the  difficulties  w^hich  oc- 
cur perpetually  in  the  reading  of  uneducated  persons;  a  w^ord 
may  often  suffice  to  get  rid  of  some  obstacle  w^hich  would  have 
impeded  the  unassisted  student's  progress  for  days;  and  then, 
whatever  requires  the  performance  of  experiments  to  become 
intelligible,  can  only  be  learnt  by  the  bulk  of  mankind  at  a 
lecture,  inasmuch  as  the  w^ealthiest  alone  can  have  such  lessons 
in  private  and  none  but  the  most  highly  gifted  can  hope  to 
master  those  branches  of  science  without  seeing  the  experi- 
ment illustrated.  " 

For  all  of  the  lectures  it  was  absoluteily  neccessary  that  the 
expenses  should  mainly  be  defrayed  by  those  for  whose  bene- 
fit they  w^ere  contrived. 

"It  is  the  province  of  the  rich  to  lay  the  foundation,  by 
making  certain  advances  w^hich  are  required  in  the  first  in- 
stance, and  enabling  the  poor  to  come  forward,  both  as  learn- 
ers and  contributors.  But  no  sudh  scheme  can  either  take  a 
deep  root,  or  spread  over  the  country  so  as  to  produce  the 
good  for  w^hich  it  is  calculated,  unless  its  support  is  derived 
from  those  who  are  chiefly  to  reap  the  benefit." 

The  cost  of  lectures  in  large  cities  would  be  less  than  in 
smaller  p>IIaces. 

"But  it  seems  to  us  advisable,  that,  even  where  gratuitous 
assistance  could  be  obtained,  something  like  an  adequate  re- 
muneration should  be  afforded,  both  to  preserve  the  principle 
of  independence  among  the  working  classes,  and  to  secure  the 
more  accurate  and  regular  discharge  of  the  duty." 

The  most  complete  establishment  would  always  be  that  in 
which  a  library  was  combined  w^ith  the  lecture;  and  it  was  ad- 


for  Education  In  Elngland  63 

visable  that,  in  places  where  at  first  there  was  not  money  or 
spirit  enough  to  begin  with  both,  a  Hbrary  only  should  be  es- 
tablished, to  w^hich  the  lecture  might  afterwards  be  added. 

The  men  themselves  ought  to  have  the  chief  share  in  the 
management  of  these  concerns.  This  w^as  essential  to  the  suc- 
cess, and  also  to  the  independence  of  the  undertaking;  nor 
was  there  the  least  reason  to  apprehend  mismanagement. 

After  giving  his  "practical  observations"  Brougham  con- 
cluded: 

"The  time,  we  rejoice  to  think,  is  past  and  gone,  when 
bigots  could  persuade  mankind  that  the  lights  of  philosophy 
w^ere  to  be  extinguished  as  dangerous  to  religion;  and  when 
tyrants,  or  their  minions,  could  proscribe  the  instructors  of  the 
people,  as  enemies  to  their  power." 

Following  the  circulation  of  Brougham's  pamphlet  me- 
chanics' institutes  spread  rapidly  throughout  the  country. 
From  January  to  April,  1825  thirty  new^  mechanics'  institutes 
and  libraries  were  formed.  ^^  In  London,  also,  the  example 
of  the  original  establishment  was  followed;  an  institute  was 
formed  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  city  and  one  was  begun  in 
Southwark.  Among  the  remoter  parts  of  the  country,  North- 
umberland stood  conspicuous;  by  August  1825  not  a  single 
market  tow^n  was  w^ithout  a  mechanics'  institute.  Bath,  Liver- 
pool, Birmingham,  Leeds  soon  joined  the  procession.  '^  By 
November,  eighty  in  all  had  been  established.  The  London 
Institute  had  advanced  rapidly  after  the  completion  of  the 
theater  and  at  this  time  1887  men  were  actually  subscribing.  " 

The  diffusion  of  the  system  through  the  country  was  hardly 
a  more  natural  or  more  immediate  consequence  of  the  original 
mechanics'  institute  than  the  adoption  of  a  similar  plan  by 
cation  from  which  the  habits  of  a  busy  life  were  apt  to  exclude 


Edin.  Rev.,  42:  222. 
Ibid.,  42:  501. 
Ibid.,  43:  247. 


64  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

the  trading  and  professional  part  of  the  community.  The  as- 
sociation was  modeled  on  the  mechanics'  institute  but  one 
night  each  week  was  set  apart  for  discussion  of  historical, 
moral  and  political  questions. 

The  suggestion  that  had  circulated  from  London  had  been 
effectual  to  another  good  purpose — the  extension  of  similar 
associations  to  country  laborers  as  well  as  artisans.  Farmers' 
book  clubs  also  w^ere  formed.  " 

Within  the  next  few  years  all  large  towns  and  almost  every 
village  had  its  mechanics'  institute,  school  of  arts,  association 
persons  in  a  higher  station  and  in  easier  circumstances.  Early 
in  1825  men  engaged  in  commercial  pursuits  formed  an  asso- 
ciation for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  those  advantages  of  edu- 
for  popular  lectures,  literary  and  scientific  institute  or  some 
institution  in  v/hich  lectures  were  delivered  on  various  sub- 
jects, at  hours  and  on  terms  which  enabled  the  working  classes 
to  attend,  and  generally  having  a  library  to  which  those  at- 
tending the  lectures  had  free  access. 

The  curriculum  in  all  of  these  associations  was  similar. 
Physical  science  presented  the  most  complete  and  systematic 
body  of  knowledge  possessed  by  man  at  that  time  and  great 
results  w^ere  anticipated  from  making  the  operatives  acquaint- 
ed with  the  principles  of  their  trades.  Accordingly  when  in- 
stitutions were  established  for  the  education  of  the  people,  the 
experimental  sciences  occupied  the  chief  place  in  the  various 
courses  of  instruction  and  their  application  to  the  arts  w^as  held 
out  as  a,  leading  inducement  to  attract  the  working  classes. 
While  Chemistry  and  Natural  Philosophy  were  the  staple 
commodities,  other  sciences  were  often  given  and  now  and 
then  la  course  or  a  few  lectures  on  Physiology  and  Political 
.  ELconomy  were  included.  ^^ 


"Ibid.,  47:  481. 

"  Ibid.,  42 :  501. 

"TimTis  Ediin.  Mag.,  5:  521. 

"Ibid.,  5:521. 


for  Education  In  Elngland  65 

In  the  establishment  of  these  institutions  Brougham  took  a 
conspicuous  and  active  part.  He  laid  foundation  stones  and 
delivered  the  inaugural  addresses  on  many  occasions. "'  But 
he  also  set  about  at  once  to  put  into  effect  the  recommenda- 
tions set  forth  in  the  "Practical  Observations". 

He  w^as  aware  of  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  lecturers,  and 
conceived  the  plan  of  preparing  "Anonymous  Lectures"  which 
would  be  of  a  perfectly  simple  and  intelligible  description, 
containing  the  elements  of  science  laid  down  in  a  way  that 
would  readily  be  comprehended  by  uneducated  men. "'  It 
was  necessary  that  the  lectures  be  made  plain  enough  so  that 
they  could  be  given  to  anyone  w^ho  could  merely  read.  Hisi 
plan  was  that  the  first  lecture  should  be  read  on  one  day,  and 
at  the  next  meeting  of  the  class  the  same  lecture  should  be 
read  a  second  time  together  w^ith  half  the  second  lecture,  and 
then  at  the  following  meeting  that  half  a  second  time  w^ith 
the  latter  half  of  the  second  lecture;  so  that  every  lecture 
would  be  read  tw^ice,  giving  the  artisans  time  for  discussion 
during  the  interval;  and  w^hen  their  minds  w^ere  vsrhetted  by 
such  discussion  it  woiild  be  repeated  and  they  would  learn  an- 
other bit.  In  1825  Brougham  devoted  the  summer  to  pre- 
paring a  course  of  lectures,  which  were  delivered  for  more 
than  ten  years  in  different  parts  of  the  kingdom.  '" 

This  system  of  anonymous  lectures  had  the  great  advantage 
that  several  persons  could  join  in  preparing  a  course  at  a 
small  trouble  to  each,  every  person  contributing  a  lecture  or 
tw^o,  if  he  could  not  w^rite  a  w^hole  course;  and  the  lectures 
could  be  given  simultaneously  in  many  places. 

It  w^as  evident,  how^ever,  that  w^ith  every  assistance  w^hich 
could  be  given  by  means  of  lectures,  the  education  of  the  peo- 
ple was  chiefly  to  be  accomplished  by  reading.  The  main  reli- 


"  Oomipanion  ito  Nervvspa^per  3:  356;   &  Quiairtedily  Journial     oif  Elduoar 
taon,  10:  J88. 

'^Speeclles,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  152. 

"  In  1835,  ailso,  he  "wias  preparing  la  oouirse  'of  'twenty  four  leobures. 
Speeches,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  152. 


66  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

ance  was  ever  to  be  on  books.  But  elementary  works  that 
really  met  the  requirements  were  rare  indeed.  Upon  most 
branches  of  knowledge  there  was  none  which  explained  the 
subject  to  ignorant  persons,  persons  whose  habits  had  not 
been  formed  by  previous  study  and  who  had  not  the  help  of 
experienced  teachers  at  hand.  This  was  a  want  felt  not  mere- 
ly by  the  working  classes,  but  by  persons  of  every  rank  in 
society. 

The  ordinary  reading  of  the  people  was  but  trashy.  The 
circulating  library  and  reading  club  could  present  merely  Ut- 
erary  novelties.  It  was  easier  in  many  country  towns  to  get 
any  new  work,  however  worthless,  than  many  of  the  classics 
of  English  literature.  '" 

When  Brougham  recommended  the  preparation  of  cheap 
publications  of  value  in  the  "Practical  Observations"  he  an- 
nounced the  expected  formation  of  an  association  for  promot- 
ing their  composition,  publication  and  distribution.  In  April 
1825,  he  asked  Dr.  Birkbeck,  George  Grote,  William  Tooke 
and  others  to  constitute  a  committee  for  this  purpose.  Noth- 
ing w^as  accomplished  until  November,  1826"  when  they  es- 
tablished the  "Society  for  the  Diffusion  of  Useful  Knowledge". 
Any  person  could  become  a  member  by  subscribing  a  pound 
a  year  to  its  funds,  but  the  committee,  of  w^hich  Brougham  w^as 
the  chairman,  was  the  governing  body  and  conducted  its 
affairs.  °" 

In  December  it  was  advertised  in  the  Edinburgh  Review 
and  other  magazines  that  a  series  of  elementary  treatises 
would  be  commenced  on  February  1 ,   182  7,  under  the  title  of 


^'' Loiiidioai  Miaigazime,  17:  559. 

"  DiictiOiii'airy  of  NaJbioaiall  Bioigira,pliy,  'aa-tiole  on  Lord  Brougham  bv 
Rev.  "Wfm.  Hunit,  YoL  VI,  p.  449, 

'^'Edin.  Rev.,  47:  127. 

As  ithe  siocdietty  ifloiurished  siuibc/oimlniittees  were  esitablislied  in 
vardous  'towns  laocording  do  rules  publishied  by  tlio  cenitral  committee. 
There  were  ^alliso  corresiploindenits  In  the  United  Staites  and  Paris. 
Bdin.  Re(v.,  47:  133. 


for  Education  in  England  67 

"A  Library  of  Useful  Knowledge";  that  each  would  unfold 
the  principles  of  some  branch  of  science,  their  proofs  and  il- 
lustrations, their  applications  to  practical  uses  and  to  the  ex- 
planation of  facts  or  appearances;  that  in  order  to  bring  each 
subject  within  the  limits  of  these  treatises,  the  greater  divi- 
sions of  science  would  be  subdivided  into  branches,  and  where 
any  portion  w^as  of  such  practical  importance  as  to  require 
minute  details,  a  separate  treatise  would  be  given  upon  it. 

Under  every  head  there  w^ould  be  references  to  the  best 
w^orks,  or  parts  of  works,  w^here  the  subject  v/as  more  fully 
treated,  in  order  that  the  student  might  be  enabled  to  pursue 
his  inquiries  further,  if  he  should  have  acquired  a  taste  for  it. 

The  price  of  each  treatise  w^as  not  to  exceed  six  pence.  And, 
for  this  small  sum,  it  was  found  possible  to  produce  thirty  two 
octavo  pages,  printed  so  as  to  equal  above  one  hundred  ordi- 
nary octavo  pages.  The  treatises  of  the  first  eighteen  months 
were  to  deal  with  Mathematics,  Natural  Philosophy,  Chem- 
istry, Botany,  Agriculture  and  History.  Tw^o  w^ere  to  be  pub- 
lished every  month  and  advantages  in  price  were  held  out  to 
distributors,  as  mechanics'  institutes,  reading  societies,  and 
education  committees  in  the  country.  " 

Brougham  contributed  the  preliminary  treatise  on  the  "Ob- 
jects, Pleasures  and  Advantages  of  Science".  Most  of  the 
treatises,  how^ever,  were  produced  on  the  plan  of  division  of 
labor.  The  committee  derived  aid  from  men  of  science  and 
letters  in  every  part  of  the  kingdom.  Sometimes  a  few^  com- 
bined and  cooperated  w^here  the  departments  were  connected; 
sometimes  more  persons  than  one  were  engaged  on  a  single 
work,  one  supplying  the  matter,  the  others  arranging  and 
writing  it;  and  it  was  constantly  the  lot  of  different  individuals 
to  revise  each  other's  compositions.  '^ 

The  First  Yearly  Report  of  the  committee  stated  that  a  cir- 


Edin.  Rev.,  45:   195. 
Ibid.,  47 :  131. 


68  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

culation  of  nearly  20,000  of  each  treatise  had  been  estab- 
lished; and  the  preliminary  treatise  had  reached  its  eighth  edi- 
tion. 

But  almost  all  of  the  first  treatises  were  of  an  abstruse 
nature.  At  a  meeting  of  the  members  in  May,  1828,  it  was 
suggested  that  several  of  the  scientific  publications  w^hich  had 
already  appeared  were  not  sufficiently  adapted  to  the  com- 
mon class  of  readers,  and  it  was  also  thought  that  nmany  per- 
sons w^ere  repulsed  in  their  desire  for  information  by  the  for- 
bidding aspect  of  even  the  most  elementary  didactic  w^ork  that 
systematically  handled  the  subject.  To  remedy  these  defects, 
to  render  the  treatises  accessible  to  every  reader,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  entice  those  whose  only  wish  w^as  to  amuse  them- 
selves, and  to  make  them  learn  something  w^orth  know^ing,  ar- 
rangements w^ere  made  for  adding  to  the  Library  of  Useful 
Know^ledge  certain  popular  introductions  to  such  "works  as  re- 
quired them,  and  for  publishing  a  second  library,  that  of  En- 
tertaining Knowledge.  It  would  be  the  object  of  the  latter  to 
comprise  "as  much  entertaining  matter  as  can  be  given  along 
with  useful  knowledge,  and  as  much  knowledge  as  can  be  con- 
veyed in  an  amusing  form".  The  w^orks  w^ere  to  be  published 
in  w^eekly  numbers  at  the  price  of  6d.  but  the  publication  of  no 
one  w^as  to  be  commenced  until  the  w^hole  eight  numbers, 
forming  a  volume,  w^ere  ready,  so  that  those  who  could  afford 
it  might  purchase  the  w^hole  at  once.  ^' 

Such  subjects  as  "Menageries — Quadrupeds  described  and 
drawn  from  Living  Subjects",  "Vegetable  Substances  used  in 
the  Arts",  "The  Pursuit  of  Knowledge  in  Difficult  Circum- 
stances, including  Anecdotes  of  Self-taught  Men",  "Insect 
Architecture"  were  treated.  ^''  But  the  society  took  pride  in  the 
fact  that  it  never  omitted  a  single  occasion  to  give  the  useful 
reflections  suggested  by,  or  which  could,  by  some  stretch,  be 
connected  with,  the  more  amusing  parts  of  the  treatises. 


"Ibid.,  48:  258. 
••Ibiid.,  50:  181. 


for  Education  in  England  69 

The  society's  success  soon  suggested  the  propriety  of  ex- 
tending the  sphere  of  its  exertions  still  further.  A  series  of 
maps  was  prepared  at  one  third  or  one  fourth  the  usual  price 
and  lithographed  copies  without  the  names  of  places,  to  be 
filled  up  as  an  exercise  by  the  student,  were  published,  at 
3d.  each. '' 

The  want  of  a  Journal  of  Education  did  not  escape  notice. 
It  was  begun  with  the  object  of  giving  a  review  of  the  books 
used  in  teaching,  and  recording  and  circulating  all  the  im- 
provements in  the  methods  of  acquiring  knowledge  made  in 
the  various  parts  of  the  world.  '' 

The  circulation  of  common  almanacs  in  England  was  enor- 
mous. The  nonsense  which  some  of  the  most  popular  of 
these  works  contained,  the  ribaldry  and  indecency  which  dis- 
figured others,  attracted  the  committee's  attention  and  with 
the  object  of  gradually  leading  the  taste  of  the  persons  who 
purchased  them  into  better  channels  they  started  the  British 
Almanac.  This  with  a  supplement.    The    Companion    to    the 

Almanac,  formed  an  annual  register  of  the  successive  changes 
and  improvements  in  the  legislation,  industry,  manners  and 
education  of  the  country.  '" 

Another  series  of  w^orks  was  started  to  form  a  part,  though 
a  kind  of  extra  part,  of  the  Library  of  Useful  Knowledge.  The 
difficulty  of  inducing  persons  connected  with  country  occupa- 
tions, as  yeomen,  farmers,  cottagers,  farm-servants,  to  devote 
any  portion  of  their  time  to  instructive  reading  had  been  the 
worst  obstacle  experienced.  Their  habits  of  life  prevented 
them  from  associating  very  much,  and  the  disposition  to  rest 
and  sleep  after  working  in  the  open  air,  tended  to  disincline 
them  from  improving  their  minds  by  reading.  But  as  they 
had  sufficient  time,  more  indeed  than  artisans,  if  the  w^hole 
year  were  considered,   it  w^as  desirable  to  provide  them  with 


"  Quartterly  JoiuraaJ  of  Education,  2:  194. 

»«rbM.,  2:  194. 

^  British  Almanac  &  The  Companion  to  the  Almanac. 


70  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

books.  The  Farmers'  Series  *°  was  started  to  consist  of 
treatises  in  a  very  plain  and  popular  style,  upon  the  subjects 
most  interesting,  because  most  useful,  to  those  conversant 
•with  country  affairs. 

In  1831  Brougham  contributed  the  first  number  of  "The 
Working  Man's  Companion  ",  or  "The  Results  of  Machinery, 
namely,  Cheap  Production  and  Increased  Employment  Exhib- 
ited"';" and  later  his  Political  Philosophy  was  published  by 
the  society. 

Two  of  the  most  popular  of  the  ventures  were  the  Penn\) 
Magazine,  begun  in  1832,  and  the  Penny  Cyclopaedia,  begun 
in  1833.  Their  object  was  to  distribute  really  useful  knowl- 
edge in  a  popular  and  attractive  form.  The  second  proved  to 
be  a  valuable  addition  to  any  library.  Neither  politics  nor 
party  discussion  found  access  to  the  Penny  Magazine  and  yet 
it  was  one  of  the  most  extensively  circulated  periodical  w^orks 
that  issued  from  the  press.  The  number  sold  w^eekly  w^as 
200,000." 

Although  the  mechanics'  institutes  and  the  Society  for  the 
Diffusion  of  Useful  Know^ledge  w^ere  gradually  proving  suc- 
cessful and  extending  their  activities,  the  enemies  of  improve- 
ment had  not  ceased  to  criticize  the  instruction  of  the  people 
and  to  ridicule  the  "penny  sciences  ". 

The  Qaarlsrly  Review  of  October,  1825  commented  that 
much  of  the  alarm  which  these  institutions  had  occasioned 
and  of  the  opposition  they  had  experienced,  was  to  be  at- 
tributed, undoubtedly,  to  the  patronage  and  advocacy  of 
Brougham. 

"It  is  his  singular  infelicity  to  prejudice  every  cause  which 
he  undertakes  to  advance: — ^with  all  the  zeal,  industry,  and 
pertinacity, — all  the  power  of  labour,   endurance  and      priva- 


«Edin.  Rev.,  49:   150  &  51:  526. 

*'^  AiDti-JaicolbJin,  I,  No.  1. 

"  Prietfaioe  to  Penny  Mag'azinie,  Vol.  1. 


for  Education  in  England  71 


tion,  mental  and  bodily, — all  the  self-confidence  and  versa- 
tility which  Sallust  attributes  to  his  hero,  and  far  more  than 
all  his  talent,  information  and  eloquence,  he  is  yet  confessedly 
the  most  unfit  of  all  distinguished  public  men  of  the  present 
age  to  lead  a  party,  or  to  conduct  the  struggle  for  any  great 
and  opposed  measure.  His  weapons  are  commiseration  of 
besotted  ignorance,  sarcasm  or  interested  motives,  assump- 
tion of  measureless  superiority."  * 

He  was  warned  not  to  inculcate  an  unwise  and  unfounded 
jealousy  of  the  higher  orders  or  labor  to  alienate  those,  on 
w^hom  he  would  confer  a  great  blessing,  from  their  best 
friends  and  appointed  guides;  or  to  raise  a  spirit  of  which  he 
could  neither  allay  the  fury  nor  delay  the  course  and  before 
which  he  would  certainly  fall  an  early  victim. 

Others  pointed  out  Brougham's  lack  of  knowledge  of  hu- 
man nature. 

"Taking  men  as  they  are,  we  cannot  expect  that  an  hour's 
leisure,  caught  with  difficulty  in  a  week  of  labour,  will  be  thus 

employed At  all  events  the  cause  and  the  effect  are 

alike  melancholy  and  alike  provoke  a  smile  of  sadness  at  the 
pleasing  picture  drawn  by  the  'Practical  Observer."    " 

It  was  scarcely  possible  to  think  that  any  prudent  or  sen- 
sible master  w^ould  encourage  or  countenance  meetings  of  his 
workmen,  much  less  allow  an  hour  off  or  begin  early,  or  allow 
reading  during  w^ork. 

The  times  were  marked  by  a  fit  of  alarm.  There  was  ap- 
prehension that  the  mass  of  the  people  would  become  too  pow- 
erful for  the  Government.  If  to  their  physical  superiority  the 
moral  force  of  knowledge  were  added,  the  multitude  would 
bear  down  all  before  them  and  shake  the  whole  order  of  so- 
ciety. 


*^  Quarterly  Review,  32:  410. 
"libM.,  32:  410. 


72  The  Work  of  Lord  Broughaun 

The  working  classes  were  undergoing  a  change  of  feeling; 
they  w^ere  distrusting  the  wealthy  and  aristocratic  order  and 
w^ere  entertaining  absurd  notions  of  equality  "due  to  the  dan- 
gerous influence  of  Mr.  Henry  Brougham  and  cheap  litera- 
ture". ^'  Moreover,  master  w^orkmen  found  it  unpleasant  that 
their  workmen  should  be  better  instructed  than  they. 

The  church  w^as  aroused  as  w^ell.  *'  The  accusation  against 
Brougham  of  aiming  to  be  "Dictator  both  to  the  Senate  and 
the  People  by  assuming  the  control  of  universal  education" 
w^as  revived.  The  knowledge  of  particular  arts  and  sciences, 
it  was  thought,  w^as  not  calculated  to  avail  much  toward  the 
moral  or  social  improvement  of  the  people.  Let  them  be 
taught  Morals,  History,  Biography  before  they  were  intro- 
duced to  Chemistry,  Hydrostatics  or  Astronomy. 

Mechanics'  institutes  continued  to  spread  until  about  1830. 
Then  there  w^as  a  visible  decline  in  the  number  established. 
An  examination  of  their  composition  show^ed  that  the  bulk  of 
the  members  did  not  consist  of  mechanics  but  of  persons  of  a 
higher  station  of  life.  They  were  not  operating  solely  or 
chiefly  on  the  class  for  whose  benefit  they  were  designed.  The 
non-existence  among  the  poorer  classes  of  an  adequate  appre- 
ciation of  the  instruction  offered,  in  consequence  of  its  over 
technical  and  scientific  nature,  and  the  misapprehension  on  the 
part  of  the  founders  of  the  real  extent  of  the  ignorance  of  the 
people  were  causes  of  this  change.  ^' 

In  an  address  to  the  members  of  the  Manchester  Mechanics' 
Institute  in  1835  ''  Brougham  could  not  help  but  express 
disappointment  that  few  of  the  1  400  members  were  from  the 
artisan  class.  He  deplored  their  lack  of  appreciation  of  the 
advantages  offered,  for  he  was  sanguine  that  if  the     working 


"Fmasiea-'s,  2:  572. 

*"  Reply  ito  M'r.  Broiugham's  "Praictiicail  Obsiervatioiils  up  an  the  Edu- 
cation of  the  People "  by  E.  W.  Grinifiead.     Loadon,  1825.     Cf> 

Edin.  Rev.,  42:  206. 

*'  Westminister  Review,  41 :  207. 

-"Speachias,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  152. 


for  Education  in  Elngland  73 

classes  were  made  more  acquainted  with  the  principles  of 
their  trades  they  would  not  only  be  better  workmen  and  be 
more  useful  to  their  employers  but  they  would  have  a  chance 
of  improving  their  position  by  rising  in  their  profession.  This 
education  would  make  the  people  more  orderly,  better  mem- 
bers of  society  and  more  disposed  to  be  peaceable  and  obe- 
dient. Moreover,  by  knowledge  and  mental  culture  the  peo- 
ple would  be  rendered  happier  in  vs^hatever  condition  they 
might  be  and  would  be  prepared  to  appreciate  the  rights  and 
better  perform  the  duties  of  men  and  citizens.  He  w^ould  not 
exclude  the  middle  classes,  how^ever;  he  w^as  much  pleased 
with  their  interest  and  he  hoped  that  their  presence  would  in 
the  end  provide  a  remedy  for  the  first  defect.  For  learning 
and  improvement  always  made  their  w^ay  downw^ards  in  so- 
ciety. If  the  middle  classes  became  aware  of  the  pleasures  of 
learning  they  would  soon  feel  responsible  for  impregnating  the 
lower  classes  w^ith  the  same  influence.  Then  he  hoped  that 
these  very  men,  the  artisans,  would  endeavor  to  become 
teachers  and  carry  the  benefits  into  the  humblest  class  of  the 
community  w^hich  now^  sat  "in  the  thickest  darkness". 

In  the  hands  of  the  middle  classes  the  mechanics'  institute 
was  destined  in  the  course  of  time  to  be  greatly  modified;  it 
was  to  be  elevated  from  a  mere  technical  school  to  a  society 
designed  to  meet  all  the  intellectual  w^ants  of  the  poorer  parts 
of  the  population.  *"  Lyceums,  popular  institutes,  libraries 
w^ith  a  more  comprehensive  purpose  were  to  be  established, 
but  the  fact  that  all  of  these  found  a  place  in  English  life  was 
due  in  no  small  part  to  the  active  exertions  of  Brougham  in 
the  first  decade  of  their  history. 
B.      London  University. 

Another  suggestion  of  the  Practical  Observer     w^as     vigor- 


^'"Wlorkts  of  gemeiral  literature  and  fiction  'were  initrodiiced  into  the 
libraries;  and  lectures  on  literature  and  miisoeillanieoius  subjoots  be- 
came moire  numenoiuis  than  those  on  sicientiific  subjects. 


74  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

ously  followed  up.  "London  University  rose  like  an  exhala- 
tion at  his  bidding."   ' 

Brougham  had  stated  in  his  pamphlet  of  1825  that  the 
worst  consequence  that  would  result  to  the  upper  classes,  if 
the  bulk  of  the  community  were  educated,  would  be  that  to 
deserve  being  called  their  superiors  they,  too,  w^ould  be 
obliged  to  devote  themselves  to  the  pursuit  "of  solid  and  re- 
fined learning".  "The  present  public  seminaries  must  be  en- 
larged and  some  of  the  greater  cities  of  the  kingdom,  es- 
pecially the  metropolis,  must  not  be  left  destitute." 

Francis  Place  writing  of  the  preceding  decade  said: 

"Some  years  hence,  when  the  exertions  which  have  been 
made,  and  are  still  being  made,  to  increase  the  desire  of  men 
in  the  middle  ranks  of  life  to  have  their  children  properly  edu- 
cated shall  have  succeeded,  it  will  scarcely  be  believed  how^ 
difficult,  not  to  say  impossible,  it  was  for  any  man  who  could 
not  afford  to  pay  a  very  large  sum  of  money  to  procure  an 
adequate  education  for  his  children.  I  do  not  mean  a  merely 
classical  education,  i.  e.  the  rudiments,  or  very  little  more  than 
the  rudiments,  of  French  and  Latin,  and  some  of  the  elements 
of  mathematics,  which  is  all  that  nine  in  every  ten  of  those 
w^ho  are  classically  educated  obtain;  but  I  mean  besides  these 
rudiments  something  more  than  the  mere  elements  of  mathe- 
matics, modern  languages,  political  economy,  politics,  and 
morals,  including  the  broad  and  comprehensive  doctrine  of 
motives. 

"I  have  never  yet  been  able  to  find  any  school,  either  in 
or  out  of  the  Metropolis,  in  which,  at  an  expense  within  the 
amount  which  an  ordinary  tradesman  is  able  to  pay,  he  can 
have  his  sons  taught  as  he  wishes  they  should  be  taught,  or 
even  as  persons  in  inferior  stations  in  Scotland  are  taught,  de- 
fective even  as  that  education  is."  °^ 

Higher  education  at  Oxford  and  Cambridge  extended  little 
beyond  the  Church  of  England.     At  Oxford  a  Dissenter     was 


'"'"  Prasier'is,  4:  93. 

"  Wialllasi,  Life  loif  Framais  Place,  p.  98. 


for  Education  In  England  75 

not  suffered  to  matriculate  or  enjoy  instruction  or  any  priv- 
ilege of  university,  college  or  hall.  At  Cambridge  he  might 
become  a  student,  but  could  obtain  no  degree,  hold  no  office, 
receive  no  emolument  and  take  no  part  in  the  government  of 
the  university  or  of  any  foundation.  ■"' 

Moreover  this  education  was  confined  to  a  few  hundred 
families  of  the  highest  rank  and  greatest  wealth,  for  it  cost 
£250  or  £300  a  year  ^  for  each  person  at  one  of  the  univer- 
sities. And  as  the  seats  of  this  limited  education  were  at  a 
day's  journey  from  the  metropolis,  a  residence  there  was  re- 
quired. 

Immediately  upon  the  appearance  of  the  "Practical  Obser- 
vations" Thomas  Campbell,  the  poet,  and  editor  of  the 
Monthly  Magazine,  addressed  Brougham  a  letter  upon  the 
subject  of  founding  a  university  in  London.  *  With  Joseph 
Hume,  Isaac  Lyon  Goldsmid  and  some  influential  Dissenters 
these  promoters  held  a  meeting  to  draw  up  a  plan,  and  form 
a  union  of  all  the  different  interests  w^hich  were  concerned 
with  its  success. 

The  object  of  the  new^  institution  was  to  give  the  advantage 
of  a  university  education  on  moderate  terms  and  near  home, 
to  those  who  w^ere  prevented  from  securing  such  benefit  on 
account  of  the  expense  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge  or  the  in- 
disposition of  parents  to  let  their  children  go  from  under  their 
own  superintendence.  '  Moreover,  Brougham  wished  to  give 
to  the  middle  classes  an  opportunity  of  getting  that  education 
at  a  cheaper  rate  w^hich  their  servants,  their  shoemakers,  their 
farriers  and  their  blacksmiths  were  now  getting  almost  for 
nothing  at  the  different  institutions  which  had  recently  been 
erected  for  their  benefit  and  instruction. 


=*  BallfouT,  p.  238. 

'^  Hainisard,  N.  S.,  XVIII,  c.  840. 

"'Bdin.  Rev.,  42:  222. 

^'-  Hamsard,  N.  S.,  XVIII,  c.  1033. 


76  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 


With  respect  to  the  institution  itself,  it  was  not  intended 
that  degrees  should  be  given,  fellowships  or  scholarships  con- 
ferred; it  w^as  not  intended  to  apply  to  Parliament  for  any  of 
those  exclusive  privileges  of  which  the  two  universities  were 
then  in  possession.  But  it  was  intended  to  secure  the  assist- 
ance of  the  best  professors  of  the  sciences,  letters  and  arts  in 
all  their  branches;  and  one  great  object  w^as  to  lay  the  founda- 
tion of  a  good  medical  school. 

Everyone  was  to  be  admitted  w^ithout  reference  to  religious 
opinion  and,  on  account  of  their  impracticability  in  this  re- 
spect. Theology  and  the  kindred  studies  of  Ecclesiastical  His- 
tory and  Biblical  Criticism  were  not  to  be  taught.  " 

The  funds  required  were  to  be  raised  by  shares  of  £100 
each  and  subscriptions  or  donations  of  £50.  Each  share  wa» 
to  have  the  privilege  of  sending  a  pupil  to  the  university  and 
to  receive  also  an  interest  not  exceeding  4^.  Each  shareholder 
was  to  have  a  vote  at  all  general  meetings  and  in  the  election 
of  the  directors.  Each  contributor  of  £50  was  to  have  all  the 
privileges  of  a  shareholder  for  life  only  and  w^as  to  receive  no 
interest.  The  students  w^ere  to  pay  fees  to  the  professors,  five 
guineas  yearly  to  the  general  fund  and  one  guinea  to  the  li- 
brary. 

The  executive  government  w^as  to  be  vested  in  a  council  of 
twenty  one,  composed  of  a  chancellor,  vice-chancellor  and 
nineteen  councillors;  and  the  council  was  to  choose  and  super- 
intend all  of  the  professors. '' 

In  April,  1825,  Brougham  announced  that  he  would  make 
early  application  to  Parliament  for  a  charter,  but  the  Govern- 
ment declined  the  granting  of  the  request.  A  bill  w^as  then 
brought  into  the  House  of  Commons  in  May  for  conferring 
the  same  privileges,  i.  e.  making  the  new  institution  a  corporate 
body.  =^ 


'"Ibdid.,  N.  S.,  XVIII,  c.  1033. 
"Edin,  Rev.,  42:  346. 
■•^Hamisard,  N.  S.,  XVIII,  c.  840. 


for  Education  in  England  77 


The  ministry,  however,  were  resolved  not  to  countenance  it, 
and  to  save  expense  and  delay  the  bill  was  dropped.  Gross 
misapprehensions  had  gone  forth  on  the  subject.  The  prin- 
cipal objections  urged  against  the  plan  were  that  no  provision 
was  made  for  religious  instruction,  that  the  metropolis  was  a 
dangerous  neighborhood  for  youth,  and  that  a  joint  stock 
company  was  ill  adapted  for  superintending  education.  '^' 

But  incorporation  was  a  privilege  that  was  convenient  but 
not  necessary.  On  February  11,  1826  the  deed  of  settlement 
was  draw^n  up  and  in  the  course  of  the  year  seven  acres  con- 
stituting the  site  of  University  College  were  purchased. "'  The 
building  w^as  begun  and  soon  became  an  object  of  attention  in 
the  neighborhood.  At  the  laying  of  the  foundation  stone  on 
April  30,  182  7  it  was  announced  that  the  institution  would 
open  in  October,  1828;  and  when  this  did  take  place  be- 
tween seven  and  eight  hundred  students  had  matriculated.  " 

In  the  meantime  a  certain  group  of  persons  who  entertained 
scruples  against  dissociating  such  an  institution  from  the  Na- 
tional Church  advertised  a  new  school.  King's  College.  The 
fundamental  principle  was,  it  was  stated, 

"That  every  system  of  general  education  for  the  youth  of  a 
Christian  community  ought  to  comprise  instruction  in  the 
Christian  religion,  as  an  indispensable  part,  w^ithout  which  the 
acquisition  of  other  branches  of  knowledge  w^ill  be  conducive 
neither  to  the  happiness  of  the  individual  nor  to  the  welfare  of 
the  state".  °^ 

The  admission  of  resident  pupils  and  the  teaching  of  reli- 
gion appear  to  be  the  only  novel  features  of  the  plan.  King's 
College  was  founded  and  incorporated  August  14,  1829  and 
was  opened  October  8,  1831. 


"'Bdin.  Rev.,  48:235. 

•"  Bnicyiolopajedia  Bnitannica,  llith  editian,  article  on  Ijandon  Unliveir- 
Bity  13(7  Jamies  Baas  Muilliniger. 
"Edin.  Rev.,  48:235. 
<"Ill)(id.,  48:  235. 


78  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

The  new  phase  of  the  movement  was  so  far  successful  that 
in  1836  it  was  deemed  expedient  to  dissociate  the  University 
of  London  from  University  College  as  a  teaching  body,  and 
to  limit  its  action  simply  to  the  institution  of  examinations  and 
the  conferring  of  degrees,  the  college  itself  receiving  its  first 
charter  and  being  thenceforth  designated  as  University  Col- 
lege, London.  The  rival  institution  w^as  also  incorporated 
with  the  University  and  was  thenceforth  known  as  King's  Col- 
lege, London. "'  Once  more  Brougham's  initiative  had  called 
forth  action  on  the  part  of  the  Church,  and  by  rivalry  a  stimu- 
lus w^as  given  to  the  movement. 

Earl  Grey  in  writing  to  Brougham  on  October  7,  1828 
said : " 

"It  must  afford  the  truest  satisfaction  to  everybody  who 
thinks,  as  I  do,  of  the  public  benefit  likely  to  arise  from  such 
an  institution.  But  to  you  it  must  be  peculiarly  gratifying,  for 
you  have  been  the  creator  of  the  establishment  and  your  name 
will  be  forever  united  with  the  improvements  w^hich  may 
spring  not  only  from  this,  but  from  the  rival  college,  which 
never  w^ould  have  existed  but  for  the  success  of  your  exer- 
tions," 


'  Briitamnica  article  on  Lonidon  UnlvensTty. 
'  Broiuglhaim's  Autoib^ifogr'apihy,  Vol.  II,  p.  378. 


for  Education  in  England  79 

CHAPTER  V 
EDUCATIONAL  PROGRESS 

A.      Grant  of  1833. 

The  year  1830  marked  a  great  change  in  the  political  ca- 
reer of  Henry  Brougham.  The  ten  years  following  his  bril- 
liant defense  of  Queen  Caroline  had  been  a  decade  of  im- 
mense activity.  We  are  given  a  picture  of  his  busy  life  at  this 
time. 

"He  is  in  the  Court  of  King's  Beach  all  day  in  active  dis- 
charge of  the  most  laborious  profession  in  the  world,  under 
which  the  stoutest  nerves  and  firmest  constitutions  are  found 
to  fail,  and  afterwards  in  the  House  of  Commons  all  night,     a 

first-rate  debater  on  every  subject  proposed; he  is  in 

the  Court  of  Exchequer  often — in  the  House  of  Lords  as  often 
— before  the  Privy  Council  whenever  it  meets — a  constant  at- 
tendant at  public  meetings — in  society  frequently  and  yet 
finds  time  for  the  cultivation  of  literature  and  science,  for  gen- 
eral and  most  excursive  reading  and  frequent  composition." 

His  own  practice  as  a  barrister  had  increased  and  he  had 
become  a  potent  force  among  the  Whigs.  On  account  of  his 
popularity  he  was  returned  to  Parliament  for  York  in  the  gen- 
eral election  of  the  summer  of  1830.  This  he  took  as  a  great 
personal  tribute.  When  in  November  the  Whig  triumph  in 
the  House  of  Commons  was  followed  by  the  organization  of 
a  new  Whig  ministry  he  could  not  be  overlooked,  and  after 
much  deliberation  he  w^as  given  the  great  seal.  He  was  then 
raised  to  the  peerage  under  the  ostentatious  patent  of  Lord 
Brougham  and  Vaux. 

In  the  House  of  Commons  he  had  been  a  factor  to  be  reck- 
oned with  and  it  was  only  with  reluctance  that  he  gave  up  his 
seat  in  that  body.  He  had  desired  to  enter  the  cabinet  as  Mas- 
ter of  the  Rolls  so  that  he  need  not  leave     the  lower     house. 

*  Edinburgih  Reiviaw,  42 :  241. 


80  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

Now  in  the  House  of  Lords  he  had  won  personal  prestige  but 
his  actual  power  w^as  much  lessened.  " 

In  the  House  of  Commons  his  place  in  the  advocacy  of  edu- 
cation was  taken  by  others,  Mr.  Roebuck,  Mr.  Wise  and  Lord 
John  Russell.  They  w^ere  ready  to  espouse  the  cause  of 
w^hich,  fourteen  years  before,  he  w^as  the  sole  conspicuous  ad- 
vocate. The  spread  of  laborers'  and  mechanics'  institutes, 
reading  rooms,  libraries,  penny  magazines,  cheap  encyclo- 
paedias, educational  societies  and  lectures  on  Natural  Philos- 
ophy and  Political  Economy  had  helped  to  form  a  sound  pub- 
lic opinion  as  to  the  necessity  and  duty  of  popular  education. ' 
Elementary  instruction  w^as  beginning  to  be  recognized  by  the 
poor  man  himself  as  something  absolutely  necessary  in  gain- 
ing his  ends. 

After,  the  agitation  for  the  Reform  Bill  had  subsided,  the 
people  began  to  urge  remedial  legislation  on  all  kinds  of  sub- 
jects. The  adoption  of  a  uniform  system  of  education  for  the 
poorer  classes  of  the  realm  w^as  urged  upon  the  House  of 
Commons  by  petition.  The  Unitarian  Christian  Congregation 
of  Greengate,  Salford,  ^  and  the  Inhabitants  of  Liverpool  ■"  in 
February  1833  prayed  the  House  to  adopt  measures  for  pro- 
moting and  improving  the  national  education.  The  inhabit- 
ants of  Epping  and  Harlow  *"  w^ere  convinced  "by  long  exper- 
ience" that  the  desirable  and  necessary  object  of  general  edu- 
cation could  not  be  obtained  by  the  zeal  and  benevolence  of 
societies  and  individuals  alone,  however  laudably  and  actively 
exerted,  and  asked  the  House  to  consider  a  plan  for  the  in- 
struction of  the  poorer  classes  of  society.  In  May  a  resolution 
of  Lord  Kerry  was  passed  for  an  address  to  the  King  that  he 
direct  an  investigation  of  the  state  of  education  in  each  tow^n. 


'  Dliotioniary  of  Naltional  Biography,  artlicle  on  Lord  Brougliam. 
» Hole,  p.  11. 

*  Jouraal  of  H.  of  C,  Vdl.  88,  p.  45. 
"dbild.,  Vol.  88,  p.  57. 

•  irbM.,  Voil.  88,  ip.  309. 


for  Education  in  England  81 

parish,  chapelry  or  extra  parochial  place,  stating  the  amount 
of  the  population  in  each  place  and  specifying — 

"1.  Whether  the  said  Schools  are  Infant,  Daily,  or  Sunday 
Schools; 

2.  whether  they  are  confined,  either  nominally  or  vir- 
tually, to  the  use  of  Children  of  the  Established  Church,  or  of 
any  other  Religious  Denomination; 

3.  whether  they  are  endowed  or  unendowed; 

4.  by  what  Funds  they  are  supported;  if  unendowed, 
whether  by  payments  from  the  Scholars  or  otherwise; 

5.  the  Numbers  and  Sexes  of  the  Scholars  in  each 
School; 

6.  the  Age  at  which  the  Children  generally  enter,  and  at 
w^hich  they  generally  quit  School; 

7.  the  Salaries  and  other  Emoluments  allow^ed  to  the 
Masters  or  Mistresses  in  each  School;  and  shall  also  dis- 
tinguish, 

8.  those  Schools  which  have  been  established  or  revived 
since  1818;  and, 

9.  those  Schools  to  which  a  lending  Library  is  attached."  ' 

On  July  30  Mr.  Roebuck  moved  that  the  House  acknowl- 
edge as  a  principle  of  government  that  the  education  of  the 
people  was  a  matter  of  national  concern  and  that  early  in  the 
next  session,  they  proceed  to  devise  a  means  for  the  universal 
and  national  education  of  the  whole  people.  '  He  advocated 
dompulsion  to  the  extent  of  making  it  an  offense  to  keep  a 
child  aw^ay  from  school  betw^een  six  and  twelve  years  of  age. 
Lord  Althorp  objected  to  binding  the  Government  by  the 
resolution  but  intimated  that  the  Government  was  not  passive. 
So  the  motion  had  to  be  withdrawn. 

Meanwhile  to  the  country  at  large  it  appeared  that 
Brougham  as  Lord  Chancellor,  too  much  absorbed  in  his  own 
advancement,  had  forsaken  their  cause.     Hume  in  the  House 


'Ibid.,  Vdl.  88,  p.  4S5. 
•Hansaird,  3  3.,  XX,  c.  170. 


82  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

of  Commons  on  April  25,  1833  said  that  he  in  common  with 
the  whole  country  felt  deeply  grieved  that  His  Majesty's  min- 
isters had  not  brought  before  the  House,  as  leading  ques- 
tions, the  subjects  of  education  and  the  poor  laws.  He  was 
very  sorry  that  the  Lord  Chancellor — all  powerful  as  he  was 
in  the  cabinet — had  so  grievously  disappointed  the  ardent 
expectations  of  the  whole  nation  on  this  most  important  sub- 
ject, which  he  felt  inevitably  had  to  be  brought  under  consid- 
eration, whether  the  present  ministers  liked  it  or  not.  " 

But  Brougham  was  not  indifferent.  The  report  of  the 
committee  of  1818  stood  as  something  basic  in  its  principles. 
It  was  only  the  means  of  applying  those  principles  that  had 
been  defeated  in  1820.  Until  he  came  into  office  in  1830  he 
had  not  the  power  of  giving  effect  to  this  report.  "'  What  he 
had  failed  to  accomplish  by  legislation  he  now  set  in  motion 
through  personal  power.  In  the  cabinet  of  Earl  Grey  there 
were  several  men  who  had  taken  more  than  a  passing  interest 
in  the  cause  of  education.  Lord  John  Russell,  the  Marquis  of 
Lansdowne,  Lord  Althorp,  and  Earl  Grey  himself  had  been 
old  friends  of  the  movement.  And  so.  Brougham  states,  as 
soon  as  the  agitation  occasioned  by  the  Reform  Bill  had  sub- 
sided, "I  deemed  it  my  duty  to  call  the  attention  of  my  col- 
leagues to  the  Report  of  the  Education  Committee  ".  "  He 
laid  the  matter  before  Lords  Grey  and  Althorp  of  the  Treas- 
ury and  obtained  their  concurrence  for  a  plan  of  granting 
money,  in  accordance  with  the  recommendation  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  1  8  1  8.  It  had  been  stated  that  if  the  original  cost  of 
the  undertaking,  occasioned  chiefly  by  the  erection  and  pur- 
chase of  the  schoolhouse,  w^ere  supplied,  private  subscriptions 
w^ould  meet  the  yearly  expenses  of  the  schools.  Consequently 
the  supply  report  of  August  I  7,  1833  contained  the  follow- 
ing: 


"  Ilbdd.,  3  S.,  XVII,  c.  594. 
"Ibiid.,  3  S.,  CXXIX,  c.  973. 
"  Ibid.,  3  S.,  CLV,  c.  S52. 


for  Education  In  England  83 


"Resolved,  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  Committee,  That 
a  sum,  not  exceeding  Twenty  thousand  pounds,  be  granted  to 
His  Majesty,  to  be  issued  in  aid  of  Private  Subscriptions  for 
the  erection  of  School  Houses,  for  the  Education  of  the  Chil- 
dren of  the  Poorer  Classes  in  Great  Britain  to  the  31st  day  of 
March  1834;  and  that  the  said  sum  be  issued  and  paid  with- 
out  any  fee  or  other  deduction  whatsoever.  "  *' 

The  grant  was  voted  by  the  House  of  Commons  and  the 
application  of  the  sum  was  entrusted  to  the  Treasury.  This 
department  adopted  one  of  the  modes  of  distribution  sug- 
gested by  the  Committee  of  1818,  namely  through  the  Brit- 
ish and  Foreign  and  the  National  Societies.  Minutes  of  the 
Treasury,  approved  by  Orders  in  Council,  outlined  the  prin- 
ciples to  be  followed.  "     TTiey  were: 

"1.  The  money  was  to  be  spent  on  new  school-houses 
only,  which  w^ere  not  to  include  dwellings  for  teachers  or  at- 
tendants. 

2.  At  least  half  of  the  total  cost  for  the  building  was  to  be 
raised  by  private  subscriptions.  This  money  was  to  be  re- 
ceived, expended,  and  accounted  for  before  the  receipt  of 
any  public  money. 

3.  All  appeals  for  grants  were  to  be  sent  through  the  Na- 
tional Schools  Society  or  the  British  and  Foreign  Schools  So- 
ciety. These  were  to  report  to,  and  satisfy,  the  Treasury 
Board  as  to  the  need  for  a  grant,  and  as  to  the  reasonable  ex- 
pectation of  the  permanent  support  of  the  school  to  be  built. 

4.  The  managers  of  schools  built  by  the  aid  of  such 
grants  were  to  be  bound  to  submit  their  accounts  to  audit,  and 
make  periodical  reports  on  the  state  of  the  school  and  the 
number  of  children  educated  therein. 

5.  In  giving  grants,  preference  would  be  shown  to  large 
towns  and  cities;  and  due  inquiry  would  be  made  as  to  the 
charitable  funds  available  for  public  education  already  ex- 
isting, in  judging  of  the  needs  of  the  place.  "  " 


"  Jooiralal  of  H.  'Oif  C,  Voil.  88,  p.  692. 
"Han&ard,  3  S.,  XXVIII,  c.  71. 
"  Hcilanan,  p.  60. 


84  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

But  a  small  grant  of  money  was  a  far  cry  from  a  national 
system  of  education.  The  Scotch  system  was  held  up  in  con- 
trast and  many  persons  demanded  of  Brougham  a  reason  for 
his  hesitation  in  bringing  in  a  bill.  On  April  16,  1834,  in 
moving  for  a  return  of  the  charities  in  a  list  of  counties,  he 
took  occasion  to  explain  his  attitude.  '  The  parish  school 
system  of  Scotland  w^as  not  equally  applicable  to  England. 
If  Parliament  required  a  school  in  every  parish,  voluntary 
contributions  w^ould  end.  In  1820  they  were  deprived,  on  ac- 
count of  the  jealousy  of  the  sects,  of  w^hat  was  in  his  belief  a 
most  unexceptionably  framed  system  of  parochial  education. 
Nevertheless,  out  of  the  evil  had  come  good,  for  the  animos- 
ity pr  rivalry  of  conflicting  sects  had  given  rise  to  new^  exer- 
tions for  the  furtherance  of  popular  instruction.  When  in  1828 
the  Test  and  Corporation  Acts  had  been  removed  he  had 
thought  it  expedient  to  ascertain  by  private  inquiries  whether 
there  had  been  an  increase  or  decrease  of  education  during 
those  ten  years.  Accordingly,  he  had  addressed  a  circular 
to  the  clergymen  of  seven  hundred  parishes,  indiscriminately 
from  tow^n  and  country,  requesting  the  necessary  informa- 
tion. About  five  hundred  replies  were  received  show^ing 
that  the  number  of  unendowed  schools  in  those  parishes  had 
doubled  and  the  number  of  scholars  had  increased  in  the 
proportion  of  twenty  one  to  ten.  The  number  of  children  in 
endowed  schools  had  fallen  off  from  166,000  to  150,000.'' 
The  friends  of  parish  schools  had  in  periodical  publications 
charged  him  with  exaggeration  but  the  report  of  Lord  Kerry's 
Commission  which  had  been  appointed  the  preceding  year 
had  show^n  by  a  comparative  view  in  two  districts,  Bedford 
and  Manchester,  from  1818-1833,  that  his  opinion  was  con- 
firmed. Did  not  this  show^  that  it  might  be  very  imprudent 
to  run  the  risk  of  doing  away  with  the  system     of  voluntary 


« eansiaaid,  3  S.,  XXII,  c.  843. 
"  Ibid.,  3  S.,  XXVII,  c.  1293. 


for  Education  in  England  85 

contribution  by  imposing  a  school  rate?  A  modified  parish 
system  was  proposed  in  1818  because  it  was  feared  that  vol- 
untary contributions  might  prove  occasional  and  temporary, 
but  now  statistics  removed  such  an  apprehension.  If  there 
was  a  backwardness  among  the  English  about  sending  their 
children  to  schools,  the  voluntary  system  offered  a  far  greater 
chance  of  removing  it,  for  those  who  subscribed  voluntarily 
naturally  took  an  interest  in  the  school  and  tried  to  induce  the 
poor  to  send  their  children.  In  Prussia  education  was  forced 
under  the  rigor  of  military  punishment;  but  he  was  against  a 
compulsory  system  in  any  sense,  either  by  forcing  parents  to 
send  their  children  to  school  under  certain  penalties  or  by  de- 
priving them  of  certain  privileges  if  they  refused  to  let  them 
attend.  A  knowledge  of  the  benefits  that  were  to  be  derived 
from  education  ought  to  be  the  great  incitement  to  seek  it  and 
every  effort  ought  to  be  made  to  disseminate  that  leading 
principle.  Although,  in  his  mind,  there  was  a  very  great  risk 
in  adopting  a  compulsory  system,  still  it  appeared  to  him  that 
there  was  a  much  greater  risk  in  doing  nothing  at  all,  and  it 
w^as  a  gross  mistake  to  suppose  because  that  particular  door 
was  not  open,  that,  therefore,  no  door  was  open  by  which 
provision  could  be  made  to  remove  the  want  of  education. 
He  approved  the  course  recommended  in  1818  and  begun  in 
1833  of  giving  a  sum  of  money  to  encourage  those  to  proceed 
w^ho  were  willing  to  advance  the  money  for  the  formation  of 
schools  by  voluntary  subscriptions.  This  had  been  started  on 
a  small  scale  and  the  present  year  he  had  induced  the  House 
of  Commons  to  make  a  further  grant  of  the  same  amount.  The 
effect  had  been  that  these  sums  by  reason  of  their  mode  of  ap- 
plication had  called  forth  an  equal  sum  of  voluntary  contribu- 
tions.    In  one  year  there  were  new  schools  for  30,000  children. 

In  the  system  of  education  offered,  how^ever,  there  was  a  de- 
ficiency. The  discussions  which  arose  out  of  the  education 
committees  of  1816,  1817,  and  1818  had  occasioned  new  ef- 
forts for  schools  of  a  more  useful  type,  having     a  larger     pro- 


86  The  Work  of  Lord  Broughson 

portion  of  teachers  and  dispensing  in  a  great  measure  with 
the  monitorial  system.  ''  The  difficulty  lay  in  the  lack  of 
cheap  seminaries  for  school  masters.  Brougham  hoped  that 
the  attention  of  Parliament  would  be  speedily  called  to  this 
and  that  an  additional  £20,000  would  be  granted  for  the  es- 
tablishment of  normal  schools. 

He  also  pointed  out  that  the  funds  applicable  to  education, 
if  bequests  w^ould  be  fairly  managed,  w^ould  be  £1,500,000  an- 
nually and  would  be  more  than  sufficient  to  supply  all  the  ex- 
penses of  a  national  system.  He  thought  not  everyone  w^ho 
had  founded  a  school  or  hospital  ought  to  be  called  charitable. 
There  w^ere  no  greater  nuisances  than  some  of  the  institutions 
called  charities  and  if  those  at  the  head  of  some  of  them  did 
not  mend  their  ways  he  would  call  on  Parliament  to  look  on 
those  establishments  as  placed  peculiarly  under  their  care  and 
to  see  that  those  estates  were  more  carefully  executed. 

But  taken  as  a  whole  the  best  course  to  be  pursued,  instead 
of  introducing  any  bill,  w^as  to  try  a  little  more  experience  on 
the  subject.  "Crude,  rank,  precipitate  reforms,"  he  said,  "are 
worse  and  worse  for  the  cause  of  reform  than  standing  rock 
still."  '' 

B.      Taxes  on  Knowledge. 

At  this  time  Brougham  was  taking  part  in  the  agitation  of 
a  subject  which  had  an  indirect  bearing  on  the  extension  of 
education,  namely,  the  repeal  of  what  were  popularly  called 
"Taxes  on  Knowledge".  These  dated  back,  as  has  been  stated 
before,  to  the  tenth  year  of  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne  and  con- 
sisted of  an  excise  tax  on  paper;  a  stamp  duty  on  newspapers, 
pamphlets  and  books;  and  a  tax  on  advertisements."  Since 
1  803  the  tax  on  paper  had  been  3d.  per  pound.  '"     By  an  Act 


"  Ibild.,  3  S.,  CXXXV,  c.  550. 

"  Liverpocl  Speeolies,  p.  12. 

"  Stalfcutes  lalt  Lan-ge,  10  Annie,  cap.  19. 

"Ibid.,  43  Geo.  Ill,  c.  69. 


for  Education  in  England  87 

of  1  8  1  5  "'  the  stamp  duty  on  newspapers  had  been  made  4d. 
for  every  sheet  or  smaller  piece  whereof  they  consisted;  on  all 
pamphlets  and  numbers  of  books  published  in  parts,  exceeding 
one  whole  sheet,  3s.  for  each  sheet;  on  almanacs,  Is.  3d.;  and 
on  advertisements,  3s.  6d. 

The  years  of  disturbance  after  the  w^ar  had  w^itnessed  the 
publication  of  low  priced  pamphlets  of  less  than  a  sheet  (thus 
avoiding  the  tax),  w^hich  contained  observations  on  public 
events  and  which  the  Tories  felt  w^ere  exciting  hatred  and  con- 
tempt for  the  Government  and  the  constitution.  In  order  to 
restrain  these,  one  of  the  Six  Acts  of  1819"  extended  the 
newspaper  stamp  tax  to  all  small  pamphlets  containing  re- 
marks on  any  matter  in  Church  or  State,  published  at  inter- 
vals not  exceeding  tw^enty  six  days,  and  sold  at  less  than  6d. ; 
and  no  quantity  less  than  21x17  inches  was  to  be  a  sheet.  "* 

From  the  time  this  act  was  passed  Francis  Place  had  fought 
against  the  taxes,  but  as  long  as  the  Tories  were  in  power 
there  was  little  hope  of  their  repeal.  With  the  advent  of  the 
Whig  ministry  the  question  w^as  pressed  more  vigorously. 
Place  w^rote  articles  on  the  subject  for  any  paper  that  w^ould 
publish  them.  In  the  House  of  Commons  Mr.  Bulw^er  repeat- 
edly made  motions  for  the  repeal;  and  many  petitions  w^ere 
presented  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  Each  time  the  ques- 
tion w^as  brought  forward  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  de- 
clared himself  in  favor  of  the  principle  of  the  repeal  but 
feared  its  effect  upon  the  revenue. "' 

In  June  1834,  Brougham  was  called  before  a  committee  of 
the  House  of  Commons  to  give  evidence  on  the  Libel  Law 
and  declared  himself  in  favor  of  the  total  repeal  of  the  tax  on 


='  Ibid.,  55  Geo.  Ill,  c.  185. 

"  Ibid.,  60  Geo.  Ill,  c.  9. 

-^  Alt  'tills  (time  Broughaim  eiit&red  protest  agaiaslt  the  aot,  Wis  ob- 
jectiO'ii  being  chieifly  directed  to  the  principle  of  resorting  to  stamp 
diujtiies  not  as  a  means  of  revenue  but  as  a  means  of  proihiibiting  pub- 
iiication.    Hanisarid,  XLI,  c.  1300. 

=*  Wallas,  Life  of  Fnanicis  Place,  p.  336-7. 


88  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

newspapers.  "'  He  considered  this  tax  to  have  brought  about 
two  evil  effects.  In  the  first  place,  it  was  the  cause  of  the 
worst  libelous  publications,  both  public  and  private.  Security 
against  abuse  lay  in  the  character  of  those  who  managed  the 
newspapers.  But  law^s  made  to  restrain  the  press  had  a 
tendency  to  lessen  this  security,  for  whatever  made  the  trade 
of  a  newspaper  precarious  tended  to  lessen  the  respect 
of  those  w^ho  resorted  to  contraband  dealing.  The  worst 
libels  appeared  in  the  unstamped  newspapers,  which  w^ere 
sold  in  great  numbers  in  violation  of  the  law.  While  the 
fair  dealer  had  to  charge  6d.  on  account  of  the  tax,  the  unfair 
sold  his  paper  at  2d.  The  evil  of  libel  could,  therefore,  be 
met  by  removing  the  impediment  to  the  fair  dealer;  the  smug- 
gler could  be  destroyed  by  removing  the  duties. 

The  other  bad  effect  of  the  tax  was  its  obstruction  to  the 
progress  of  political  knowledge  and  the  diffusion  of  general 
information.  As  the  publisher  sold  his  paper  to  the  newsman 
for  2d.  and  the  tax  was  4d.,  the  necessity  of  political  life  and 
political  intelligence  was  taxed  200%.  To  the  poor  man  this 
price  was  a  prohibitive  one.  It  was  the  duty  of  a  government 
to  make  all  its  acts  generally  and  speedily  know^n  to  the  pub- 
lic; it  was  an  injustice  to  punish  men  for  what  they  could  not 
know  to  be  crimes.  What  channels  were  so  easy  as  the  pub- 
lic prints?  But  the  Government  said  that  the  newspapers 
were  only  to  be  read  by  persons  in  easy  circumstances.  It  w^as 
the  duty  of  all  free  subjects  to  consider  matters  of  a  public 
nature,  the  acts  of  the  Government,  the  conduct  of  the  public 
servants,  the  occurrences  of  the  time,  and  form  their  opinions 
upon  them,  but  the  price  of  papers  deprived  them  of  this  in- 
telligence. 

Moreover,  Brougham  said  those  who  had  wished  to  provide 
for  the  people  cheap,  innocent  and  useful  publications  found 
that  to  a  certain  point  they  could  go,  but  beyond  that     it  was 

"  PoQitiical  Economy  Pamiphleits,  Vol.  205. 


for  Education  in  England  89 

impossible  for  them  to  move.  Where  men  were  gregarious 
cheap  publications  sold  readily  but  the  peasantry  he  had 
nearly  given  over  in  despair.  Books,  however  cheap,  were  re- 
pulsive to  ignorant  men  but  the  new^spaper,  w^hich  furnished 
the  best  vehicle  for  useful  information,  w^ould  find  its  w^ay  into 
the  farm  house.  "But  it  was  prevented  in  many  cases  from 
entering,  because  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  kept  his 
hand  on  the  latch." 

This  evidence  Place  reprinted  in  pamphlet  form  and  had 
10,000  copies  circulated.     He  said  in  a  letter  to  Hume: 

"Scarcely  any  man  in  Parliament  besides  Lord  Brougham 
appears  to  know  the  actual  value  of  the  repeal.  In  a  moral 
point  of  view  it  is  what  Archimedes  wanted  to  have  in  a  phys- 
ical point  of  view,  a  place  to  stand  upon,  a  fulcrum  to  move 
the  world."  "" 

The  next  year  in  presenting  a  petition  signed  by  many  in- 
habitants of  London  Brougham  took  occasion  to  reiterate  his 
opinions  in  the  House  of  Lords.  "'  He  presided  at  one  of  the 
three  big  public  meetings  on  the  subject  in  the  metropolis'*  and 
gave  his  active  support  to  the  movement  until  legislation  re- 
sulted. In  1836,  the  stamp  duty  was  reduced  to  Id.'" 
C.      Resolutions  of  1835. 

Meanwhile  changes  in  the  political  arena  were  taking  place 
which  were  to  interfere  with  the  full  efficacy  of  Brougham's 
powers.  Although  Grey  had  retired  in  June,  1834,  Brougham 
had  retained  the  chancellorship  in  the  first  Melbourne     min- 


^' Wallas,  Dife  of  EnantoLs  Place,  £n.  p.  337,  Letiter  to  Hume,  May  2, 
1835. 

■''  Hanisiarld,  3  ,S.,  XXVII,  c.  85. 

"  Companioin  to  the  Newspaper,  3 :  452. 

-"  Statutes  at  Large,  6  &  7  Wm.  IV,  cap.  76. 

The  isitamp  duty  was  repealed  in  1855  (18  «&  19  Vict.,  cap.  27).  The 
tajc  on  adveirtisements  was  reduced  in  1833  to  1  s.  6  d.  (3  &  4  Wm. 
IV  cap.  23),  and  was  repeaJed  in  1853  (16  &  17  Viot.,  cap.  63);  that 
on  pampihleltis  was  repealed  in  1833  (3  &  4  Wm.  IV,  cap.  231) ;  that  on 
almjanacs  was  repealed  in  1834  (3  &  4  Wm.  IV,  cap.  57). 


90  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

istry  from  July  to  November.  He  was  one  of  the  most  active 
Whigs  in  helping  to  overthrow  the  Peel  ministry  w^hich  fol- 
lowed, but  w^hen  in  April,  I  835  Melbourne  was  called  upon  to 
form  a  new  cabinet,  and  almost  all  the  old  ministers  were  re- 
called, Brougham  w^as  ignored  by  his  colleagues.  This  to  him 
was  a  sore  disappointment.  For  a  time  the  seal  was  put  in 
commission,  perhaps  to  ease  his  feelings,  but  w^hen  Lord  Cot- 
tenham  w^as  appointed  early  in  I  836  all  hopes  w^ere  gone. '" 
To  one  w^ho  w^as  vain  and  w^ho  from  early  youth  aspired  to 
personal  prestige,  such  an  omission  v*?^as  a  great  slight.  From 
that  time  his  influence  on  political  party  and  political  move- 
ment w^as  ended.  Sir  Robert  Peel  said  that  Brougham  was 
the  most  powerful  man  he  had  ever  know^n  in  the  House  of 
Commons;  but  that  no  one  had  ever  fallen  so  fast  and  so 
far.  " 

In  May,  1835  Brougham,  in  announcing  that  he  was  going 
to  submit  certain  resolutions  on  the  subject  of  education  to  the 
House  of  Lords,  was  apprehensive  that  some  might  think  more 
of  the  advocate  than  of  the  question,  more  of  his  politics  than 
of  its  merits.  Unless  he  could  convince  their  Lordships,  he 
said,  that  the  subject  w^as  w^orthy  of  their  attention  he  might 
be  doing  mischief  to  the  cause,  the  progress  of  w^hich  it  had 
been  the  great  object  of  his  life  to  advance.  He  realized  that 
whoever  undertook  to  bring  forward  a  subject  like  education 
had  a  difficult  task. 

"He  makes  himself  the  advocate  of  measures  which  ought 
to  be  kept  free  from  all  admixture  of  party  feeling — apart 
from  all  the  disturbing  forces  of  animosity — measures  in  w^hich 
all  parties  have  the  same  stake,  so  none  ought  to  interfere  with 
any  other  view,  but  to  consider  their  merits  upon  the  most  en- 
larged principles,  and  with  the  most  inflexible  resolution  to 
consult  only  the  true  interests  of  the  country."  ^" 

^^  Dictionary  of  National  Bioigraphy,  article  on  D;ird  Broiigiham. 
"Life  of  Gladstone  by  John  Morley,  Viol.  I,  p.  133. 
==  Hanisairid,  3  S.,  XXVII,  <;.  1293. 


for  Education  in  England  91 

Mindful  of  the  religious  animosity  which  had  been  aroused 
by  the  bill  of  1820,  Brougham  was  reluctant  to  proceed  by  a 
general  bill.  Statistics  had  shown  that  the  voluntary  system 
had  vindicated  itself  and  until  the  efforts  of  individuals  should 
be  found  insufficient  and  the  institutions  which  they  had  es- 
tablished should  be  found  going  into  decay  no  general  inter- 
ference of  Parliament  was  necessary.  And  so  he  preferred  to 
proceed  by  fourteen  resolutions  "  which  provided  that  the 
parliamentary  grants  should  go  to  improve  the  instruction 
given  and  the  state  of  the  schools;  and  in  presenting  them  he 
gave  a  detailed  explanation.  In  the  first  place  schools  were 
too  few.  One  ninth  of  the  population  were  children  betw^een 
seven  and  twelve,  but  only  one  twelfth  were  educated  and 
these  were  unequally  distributed  in  all  ranks.  Nearly  one  half 
of  the  children  of  the  poor  were  still  destitute  of  all  means  of 
instruction.  The  remedy  suggested  was  a  continuation  of  the 
plan  of  giving  money  for  the  school  house  in  proportion  to 
private  subscription.  The  master's  salary  should  not  be  pro- 
vided for  because  the  poor  should  be  encouraged  to  spare 
something  for  quarter-pence. 

Next,  education  was  confined  to  children  of  an  age  too  ad- 
vanced. He  considered  the  establishment  of  infant  schools 
one  of  the  most  important  improvements  in  the  civil  polity  of 
the  country.  The  school  which  he  had  helped  to  establish  in 
Westminster  was  still  flourishing,  although  it  was  eclipsed  by 
others  to  which  it  gave  rise,  especially  Wilderspin's  in  Spital- 
fields  and  Wilson's  at  Walthanston.  He  and  his  friends  had 
been  called  visionaries,  speculatists,  enthusiasts,  theorists. 

"We  walked  but  walked  onward,  among  clouds  of  such 
phrases,  thickly  buzzing  about  from  every  corner;  a  little 
noisy,  less  troublesome,  but  offering  no  kind  of  resistance  to 
our  progress.     If  my  opponents  smiled  at  me,  I  smiled  at  them, 

''  Ibid.,  3  S.,  XXVII,  c.  1331-33. 


92  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 


so  that  quarrel  we  had  none;  and  at  length  they  who  laughed, 
w^ere  first  silenced,  then  convinced,  and  are  now^  active  coad- 
jutors. And  now  I  am  again  exposing  myself  to  a  repetition 
of  the  ridicule,  when  I  state  that  I  consider  that  the  establish- 
ment of  Infant  Schools  in  large  tow^ns,  where  crime  is  rife, 
v/here  the  people  are  closely  crow^ded  and  ignorant,  and  vi- 
cious as  well  as  ignorant — that  planting  those  schools  in  such 
haunts  of  men  as  London,  Westminster,  Southwark,  Man- 
chester, Birmingham  and  Sheffield,  w^ould  be  the  most 
simple  and  most  efficacious  preventive  of  crimes." 

Punishment  was  useless  as  a  deterrent;  prevention  w^as  ef- 
fectual.    Infant  schools  were  better  than  Newgate  schools. 

The  real  difficulty  of  providing  the  schools  w^ould  be  incon- 
siderable, "for  all  those  persons  who  have  themselves  been 
thrown  into  evil  communication  by  the  want  of  knowledge  and 
by  early  bad  habits  have  invariably,  to  their  praise  be  it 
spoken,  looked  favourably  upon  infant  tuition".  A  calcula- 
tion as  to  the  cost  he  had  through  accident.  A  legacy  of  be- 
tw^een  £7000  and  £8000  had  been  left  him  on  supposition 
that  he  held  certain  opinions  which  he  did  not  entertain,  so  he 
had  decided  to  give  it  to  infant  schools.  Finding  he  had  to 
undergo  a  Chancery  suit  to  get  it  he  renounced  it;  but  in- 
quiries had  been  set  on  foot,  in  consequence  of  his  conceived 
project,  and  for  £,000  he  found  he  could  establish  schools 
which  would  train  that  portion  of  a  population  of  130,000 
which  he  supposed  to  furnish  the  criminals.  If  Parliament 
would  give  £30,000  for  two  years  "w^e  should  be  able  to  pro- 
vide for  the  training  of  the  whole  of  London  on  both  sides  of 
the  river".  One  sixtieth  of  the  population  needed  such  schools 
and  the  supply  w^as  for  only  one  one  hundred  and  sixtieth.  ^^ 

Next  he  dealt  w^ith  the  kind  of  education  given  in  the 
schools. "  It  was  exceedingly  scanty  and  imperfect.  "You 
could  hardly  say  more  in  its  praise  than  that  it  is  better     than 


^*  RxM.,  3  S.,  c.  1293. 

•'■  Ibid.,  3  S.,  XXWI,  c.  1319. 


for  Education  in  England  93 

nothing.'*  England  was  far  behind  other  countries.  He  had 
visited  France  the  year  before  and  found  that  normal  schools 
were  everjrwhere  being  established  by  the  Government  on  the 
model  originated  by  Fellenberg.  In  England  only  two  such 
institutions  existed,  one  having  been  established  by  each  of  the 
two  big  societies.  He  had  frequently  visited  the  school  of  the 
British  and  Foreign  Society  at  the  Borough  Road. 

"These  seminaries  for  training  masters  are  an  invaluable 
gift  to  mankind  and  lead  to  the  indefinite  improvement  of 
education.     It  is  this  w^hich  above  everything  else  w^e  ought  to 

labour  to  introduce  into  our  system; no  possible  harm 

can  result  from  the  interposition  of  the  Legislature  in  this  de- 
partment." 

He  estimated  that  £20,000  for  five  or  six  years  with  the  in- 
dividual efforts  which  would  be  called  forth  would  be  suffi- 
cient. If  charitable  foundations  w^ere  properly  utilized  there 
w^ould  be  an  ample  amount  of  funds  applicable. 

He  proposed  that  a  board  be  formed — 

"To  superintend  the  due  and  just  application  of  the  funds 
from  time  to  time  voted  by  Parliament  for  the  promotion  of 
Education,  to  establish  proper  Seminaries  for  training  teachers, 
to  encourage  the  trustees  of  Charities  connected  with  Educa- 
tion in  using  beneficially  the  powers  now  possessed  by  them, 
ito  watch  over  the  abuses  of  trust  committed  by  such  trustees, 
and  to  control  the  exercise  of  such  new^  pow^ers  as  Parliament 
may  grant  them".'' 

It  was  objected  that  he  had  neglected  religious  instruction 
in  the  resolutions,  to  which  he  replied  that  he  was  not  unaware 
of  the  difficulties  w^hich  surrounded  this  question;  but  he 
thought  he  would  at  a  future  time  be  enabled  to  lay  such  a 
plan  before  their  Lordships. 

«I)l)dd.,  3  S.,  XXVII,  c  1332. 


94  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

The  debate  on  the  resolutions  was  postponed  until  June  30. 
Then  Melbourne  objected  to  proceeding  in  that  form  with  a 
principle  of  such  great  importance  and  suggested  a  bill  in- 
stead. *'  He  also  stated  that  money  had  already  been  voted 
for  a  model  school  and  that  the  Treasury  was  considering  its 
establishment.  Of  this  Brougham  had  not  known;  but  he  now 
objected  to  the  smallness  of  the  sum  of  £10,000  for  that  pur- 
pose. He  also  urged,  since  the  Corporation  Act  w^as  soon  to 
be  passed,  that  when  they  w^ere  turning  over  a  new^  leaf,  w^hen 
they  were  making  a  new  distribution  of  trust  power,  when  they 
w^ere  taking  the  management  of  property  out  of  the  hands  of 
one  body  and  giving  it  to  another,  now  was  the  time  to  see 
whether  they  could  not  establish  an  effectual  barrier  to  the 
abuse  of  trusts. 

The  resolutions  were  finally  withdrawn.  Brougiham  had 
accomplished  his  view^;  they  had  been  printed  and  discussed, 
and  the  subject  was  no  longer  new  to  anyone.  Four  days 
later  he  presented  a  bill,  but  it  did  not  reach  a  second  reading 
ibefore  the  end  of  the  session. 
D.     Education  Bills  of  1837  and  1838. 

The  wrong  which  Brougham  believed  he  had  sustained  at 
(the  hands  of  the  Whigs  w^as  something  not  easily  forgotten. 
Depression  could  not  be  fought  away  and  the  year  1836  vnt- 
nessed  no  speech  from  him  in  Parliament.  But  he  was  back 
in  London  in  January,  1837,  ready  to  take  up  matters  w^here 
he  had  left  them.  He  had  divided  his  bill  for  education  into 
tw^o  parts.  ^*  The  first  created  a  new^  department  in  the  State, 
the  Department  of  Public  Instruction.  Three  paid  commis- 
sioners, holding  their  places  for  life  and  removable  only  by 
address  by  both  Houses  of  Parliament,  with  three  ministers 
of  the  Crown  and  the  speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons  w^ere 
to  form  the  board.     The  department  it  w^as  proposed     to  in- 


"  Ibid.,  3  S.,  XXVIII,  c.  71. 
'^  Ibid.,  3  S.,  XXXViin,  c.  1618. 


for  Education  in  England  93 

vest  with  such  powers  as  w^ould  enable  it  to  extend  education 
throughout  the  country,  to  plant  schools,  to  bestow  properly 
those  funds  which  might  be  afforded  from  time  to  time  by 
Parliament  and  to  superintend  the  distribution  of  such  other 
funds  as  might  be  raised  by  local  taxation  for  this  purpose. 
The  second  branch  of  the  bill  related  to  the  jurisdiction  which 
was  to  be  confided  to  the  same  board  over  the  charity  funds 
already  in  existence. 

The  bill  was  presented  and  read  the  first  time  on  the  first 
night  of  the  session  and  an  abstract  of  the  provisions  was  made 
so  that  no  one  would  have  the  excuse  of  not  reading  the  bill. 
Objection  w^as  made,  however,  that  it  was  too  early  in  the 
session  so  the  second  reading  w^as  postponed.  The  bill  was 
unfortunate  at  all  times,  for  even  in  the  middle  of  the  session 
when  there  was  literally  nothing  to  do,  it  could  not  be  pro- 
ceeded with.  Then  at  the  end  of  the  session  the  accession  of 
a  new  sovereign  made  business  like  that  of  education  out  of 
the  question.  Since  it  was  impossible  that  the  bill  should  re- 
ceive due  consideration  in  the  House  of  Commons,  Brougham 
decided  that  nothing  would  be  gained  by  urging  it.  He  ex- 
pressed satisfaction  that  it  had  been  printed  and  that  the  more 
his  plan  was  considered  the  more  acceptance  it  had  found. '" 

The  scheme  proposed  had  draw^n  the  attention  of  the  peo- 
ple outside  Parliament.  A  petition,  signed  by  11,000  to 
12,000  persons  of  Sheffield,  was  drawn  up  at  a  meeting  pre- 
sided over  by  the  "Master  Cutler"  asking  for  the  adoption  of 
such  a  system  of  education  as  would  elevate  the  moral  char- 
acter of  the  people.  Another,  presented  by  the  Bishop  of 
London,  and  signed  by  5048  persons  of  the  tow^n  of  Chelten- 
ham, stated  that  it  was  view^ed  w^ith  alarm  that  an  attempt  was 
being  made  to  form  a  system  of  education  which  would  be 
compulsory  and  which  was  to  be  of  a  totally  secular  char- 
acter. *" 

^nhM.,  3  S.,  XXXIX,  c.  432. 
*«Iibdd.,  3  S.,  XXXIX,  c.  208-11. 


96  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

The  matter  of  religion  had  been  carefully  avoided  by 
Brougham.  Mindful  of  his  fornmer  experience  in  1820,  he  was 
of  the  opinion  that  there  ought  to  be  the  most  careful  rejection 
and  exclusion  of  any  principle  that  was  calculated  to  give 
either  to  the  Established  Church  or  to  any  one  sect  any  pref- 
erence, dominance,  or  authority,  exclusively  paramount,  over 
the  education  of  the  people  of  the  kingdom. 

On  December  1,  1837  he  gave  notice  that  he  w^ould  soon 
present  two  separate  bills,  one  on  education  generally  and  one 
on  charities,  based  on  the  principles  he  had  been  advocating 
for  three  years.  "  He  had  divided  the  subject  for  there  w^ere 
many  persons  against  a  legislative  measure  relating  to  the  ad- 
ministration of  charities  who  experienced  no  difficulty  with  re- 
respect  to  duties  of  an  education  board.  He  was  not  going 
to  wait  until  the  first  reading  of  the  bills  to  explain  their  na- 
ture, for  if  he  waited  until  they  w^ere  printed  it  would  be  diffi- 
cult to  remove  objections  that  might  be  formed  in  the  Lords' 
minds. 

These  bills  were  founded  on  tw^o  general  principles.  First, 
he  thought  that  there  ought  to  be,  in  no  time,  in  no  country, 
•whatever  might  be  the  constitution  of  the  country  and  the 
state  of  society,  any  positive  and  direct  compulsion  as  to  the 
education  of  the  people. 

"It  v^as  a  perilous  matter  to  usurp  the  parental  office  by 
public  authority  and  prescribe  by  a  command  of  the  State, 
fortified  perhaps  by  the  penalties  attached  to  a  civil  offence, 
the  line  of  parental  management  which  the  father  and  mother 
should  pursue  in  taking  care  of  the  offspring  w^hich  Providence 
and  nature  had  committed  to  their  care." 

Also  he  thought  that  the  compulsory  principle  was  a  viola- 
tion of  individual  liberty — 

*>  Ibid.,  3  S.,  XXXIX,  c.  432. 


for  Education  in  England  97 


"That  it  was  a  tyranny,  introduced  no  doubt,  and  he  ad- 
mitted it,  for  a  laudable  purpose,  but  nevertheless  declaring, 
that  in  order  to  educate  people  they  would  enslave  them, 
that  in  order  to  diffuse  instruction  amongst  them  they  Would; 
contract  their  liberty  and  introduce  a  system  which  would  be 
intolerable  to  the  citizens  of  a  free  state". 

The  next  general  principle  w^as  that  it  should  not  be  in  the 
power  of  the  Government  to  regulate  the  details  of  education, 
i.  e.  that  its  interference  should  be  excluded  beyond  w^hat  was 
absolutely  necessary.  It  appeared  to  him  nothing  more  nor 
less  than  tyranny  for  any  Government  to  have  the  power  of 
deciding  the  number  of  schools  to  be  established,  the  kind  of 
instruction  to  be  afforded  in  them,  the  mode  of  teaching  to  be 
adopted,  and  the  description  of  books  to  be  read.  He  would 
have  no  rules  laid  down  either  by  law,  or  by  boards,  or  by  the 
joint  operation  of  law  and  boards  together;  neither  would  he 
have  the  executive  or  the  legislature  to  prescribe  a  course  of 
instruction,  and  teach  the  people  according  to  its  ow^n  model. 
He  held  it  to  be  a  right  that  no  Government  should  appoint 
instructors — that  no  Government  ought  to  be  intrusted  with 
the  power  of  naming  those  from  whom  the  public  at  large 
were  to  receive  the  benefit  of  secular  instruction.  One  should 
hold  out  incentive  and  encouragement  and  give  facilities  of 
every  sort  to  enable  the  parent  to  discharge  the  duty.  Ac- 
cordingly, first  of  all,  these  inducements  should  consist  in  mak- 
ing education  cheap,   good,   and  easily  acquired. 

But  no  measure  could  be  based  merely  on  general  prin- 
ciples. It  must  have  particular  reference  to  the  state  of  edu- 
cation in  England.  Here  there  were  obstacles  to  a  uniform 
measure:  1.  A  vast  number  of  schools  were  in  existence. 
There  were  50,000,  of  which  39,000  or  40,000  were  unen- 
dowed and  10,000  endowed.  Not  all  the  children  at  the  un- 
endowed schools  should  be  considered  charity  children. 
Twice  as  many  paid  as  not.  He  agreed  with  those  who  said 
a  system  supported  by  mere  charity  was  pregnant  with  evil. 


98  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

No  one  had  gone  further  than  he  in  deprecating  the  extension 
of  more  than  was  absolutely  necessary  of  that  charitable  sys- 
tem.     2.      The  Scotch  system  vs^ould  not  work     in     England. 

"Every  system  of  education must  be  so  framed  as  to  be 

capable  of  expansion  and  contraction,  and  easily  susceptible  of 
such  variations  and  modifications  as  might  suit  the  different 
parts  of  the  country,  and  meet  the  views,  the  wants,  and  the  al- 
tering state  of  the  various  tow^ns  and  even  villages  which  were 
found  to  exist  in  England."  3.  There  were  many  funds  by  en- 
dowment which  were  sufficient  in  one  place  and  lacking  in 
others.  4.  The  state  of  the  country  in  respect  to  the  relig- 
ious feelings  of  the  people  was  peculiar. 

Brougham  then  stated  that  a  public  department  to  be 
called  an  Education  Board  was  necessary.  The  present  bill 
required  that  it  be  composed  of  two  ministers  of  the  Crown 
and  three  life  members  as  against  three  ministers,  the  speaker 
of  the  House  of  Commons  and  three  paid  commissioners  of 
the  preceding  bill.  It  was  necessary  to  have  some  members  of 
the  Government  for  such  matters  as  grants  and  the  adminis- 
tration of  grants  required  the  concurrence  of  ministers  who 
would  be  responsible.  But  the  members  w^ere  to  have  no 
pow^er  w^ith  respect  to  appointment  of  schoolmasters.  They 
were  to  distribute  the  grants  made  from  time  to  time  by  Par- 
liament and  the  charity  funds,  according  to  the  present  law  or 
future  modifications.  They  were  to  name  inspectors  and  have 
pow^er  to  provide  schools  with  the  concurrence  of  the  local 
authority. 

This  was  the  great  principle  of  the  bill,  that  the  people 
among  whom  education  was  to  be  extended  or  improved 
should  be  a  substantial  check  against  the  central  authority. 
The  members  of  the  local  body  alone  were  to  originate  the 
plan  of  the  rate.  Unless  they  called  for  the  rate  or  for  the 
pow^er  of  rating  themselves  there  was  no  authority  to  impose 
any  rate  w^hatever  upon  them.  On  the  other  hand,  the  local 
body  could  not  rate  themselves  without  the  authority     of  the 


for  Education  in  England  99 

central  board,  so  that  the  joint  consent  of  the  local  and  the 
central  power  served  as  a  protection  of  the  constituents 
against  their  representatives.  If  the  local  body  made  condi- 
tions unacceptable  to  the  central  they  might  subscribe  accord- 
ing to  the  voluntary  principle  out  of  their  own  money  but  they 
could  have  no  portion  of  a  grant  from  Parliament.  The  prin- 
ciple of  distribution  adopted  by  the  Treasury  in  1833  was  to 
be  altered.  The  first  grant  had  been  equally  divided  between 
the  tw^o  societies  but  as  the  principle  of  the  Government  was 
to  make  grants  where  one  half  of  the  sum  was  raised  by  local 
efforts,  the  British  and  Foreign  Society  had  exhausted  its 
funds  the  first  year  and  the  National  Society,  by  reason  of  its 
superior  local  resources,  soon  absorbed  tw^o  thirds  and  then 
three  fourths  of  the  grant. 

The  country  was  divided  into  (  I  )  municipal  corporations 
whose  local  affairs  were  committed  to  town  councils  and  (2) 
those  districts  where  people  had  no  councils  nor  any  body  in 
whom  the  functions  exercised  in  corporate  towns  were  vested. 
If  a  parish  or  township  not  having  municipal  institutions 
chose,  it  could  obtain  for  itself  a  body.  Any  given  number 
of  inhabitants,  five  or  six  for  instance,  could  make  requisition 
to  the  parish  officer  for  a  meeting  at  which  a  school  committee 
should  be  appointed.  The  forming  of  the  constituency  w^ho 
w^ere  to  choose  the  school  committee  w^as  a  new  proposition. 
The  qualification  was  appropriately  an  educational  one. 
Brougham  had  always  entertained  a  strong  and  decided  opin- 
ion in  favor  of  this  kind  of  indirect  encouragement  of  educa- 
tion. All  persons  who  w^ere  members  for  a  certain  time  of  a 
mechanics'  institute,  an  association  for  education,  or  a  literary 
society,  and  all  persons  educated  at  a  university.  Inns  of 
Court,  Inns  of  Chancery,  public  schools  or  any  schools  what- 
ever, were  to  be  enrolled.  All  those  who  were  classified  in 
any  w^ay  were,  if  residents  for  twelve  months,  to  enjoy  the 
franchise.     The  school  committee  which     this     body     w^ould 


1 00  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

elect  was  to  be  composed  of  rate  payers  and  was  to  have 
pow^er  to  levy  the  school  rate. 

Brougham  felt  that  every  plan  of  national  education 
should  embrace  religious  instruction.  The  authorized  version 
of  the  Scriptures  was  to  be  read  in  all  the  schools  founded, 
extended  or  improved  under  the  bill,  but  the  children  of  Jews 
and  Roman  Catholics  were  not  required  to  be  present  during 
the  reading  unless  the  parents  desired  it.  The  same  exemption 
w^as  also  to  be  made  when  the  catechism  and  Thirty  Nine  Ar- 
ticles were  expounded. 

Brougham  w^as  convinced  that  he  had  at  last  worked  out  a 
plan  w^hich  reconciled  many  inconsistencies  and  established 
forms  which  amounted  on  the  whole  to  one  great  universal 
system  of  education,  as  far  as  any  system  could  be  applied  to 
a  country,  the  diversity  of  the  local  circumstances  of  w^hich 
w^as  as  great  and  as  various  as  in  England.  He  w^ished 
throughout  his  measure  strictly  to  adhere  to  the  w^ise  and  be- 
nevolent maxim — "in  essentialibus,  unitas;  in  non-essentiali- 
bus,  libertas;  et  in  omnibus,  caritas ".  ^' 

The  bill  when  presented  had  the  support  of  Lord  Mel- 
bourne's Government''  but  Brougham  soon  found  he  had  to 
meet  not  the  hostility  of  Dissenters  this  time  but  the  prejudices 
of  the  Established  Church.  He  had  a  vast  amount  of  corre- 
spondence on  the  subject  and  met  many  deputations,  some  of 
them  consisting  of  fifty  or  sixty  individuals,  of  all  sects  and 
belonging  to  various  classes  of  the  community.  "  From  the 
opinions  expressed  he  found  there  was  a  general  agreement  as 
to  the  great  principle  of  the  measure  but  considerable  disagree- 
ment as  to  religious  instruction. 

In  the  House  of  Lords  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  was  an 
opponent.  *'  The  Church  of  England   (ecclesiastical  and     lay) 


« IWid.,  3  S.,  XLIV,  c.  1174. 
"  Ibid.,  3  S.,  CXXXIII,  c.  1. 
"  Ibid.,  3  S.,  XLIV,  c.  1174. 
"ilbid.,  3  S.,  iCXXXIII,  o.  1. 


for  Education  In  England  1  0 1 

contended  it  could  not  unite  in  any  plan  of  education  not  im- 
mediately under  the  superintendence  of  the  parochial  minis- 
ters, which  did  not  make  the  catechism  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land a  necessary  part  of  the  instruction  and  of  which  the 
schoolmaster  was  not  himself  a  Churchman.  With  the  support 
of  the  Government  Brougham  had  hoped  to  win,  but  on 
August  14,  1838,  one  of  the  prelates  moved  that  the  bill  be 
read  a  second  time  on  "that  day  three  months"  and  conse- 
quently it  was  defeated.  Brougham  then  realized  that  it  w^as 
impossible  to  carry  a  measure  on  the  subject  of  education 
without  its  being,  in  the  first  place,  thoroughly  considered 
throughout  the  country.  Convinced  that  it  w^as  absolutely  and 
utterly  impossible  to  have  any  plan  accepted  without  a  com- 
promise, he  addressed  a  letter  to  his  friend,  the  Duke  of  Bed- 
ford, *°  in  concert  w^ith  whom  he  had  brought  forward  the  bill, 
and  he  agreed  that  any  proposition  for  a  system  of  education 
would  have  to  unite  in  its  support  the  Church  and  the  Dissent- 
ers. 

E.      Committee  of  the  Privy  Council  on  Education. 

From  the  attitude  of  the  House  of  Lords  it  was  now  evi- 
dent that  no  popular  education  measure  had  any  chance  of 
passing  into  law.  But  a  bill  was  not  a  sine  qua  non.  What 
could  not  be  done  with  the  aid  of  the  upper  house  was  carried 
out  by  a  method  for  which  its  consent  was  not  needed.  Mem- 
bers of  the  Government,  including  Lord  John  Russell,  had  not 
been  willing  to  take  the  subject  out  of  Brougham's  hands.  " 
Then,  too,  the  religious  difficulty  had  been  a  great  obstacle. 
It  had  been  aggravated  by  the  fact  that  the  Sovereign  had  sub- 
scribed £  1  00  annually  to  the  British  and  Foreign  Society  and 
the  Duke  of  Kent  was  a  patron.  ''  For  these  reasons  the  Gov- 
ernment had  been  unable  either  to  adopt  a     general  plan     of 


^'Cf.  Edin.  Rev.,  70:  154. 

■"  Early  Correspondenice  of  Donid  Joihn  Russell,  Vol.  I,  ip.  93. 

"  Ha^nsard,  3  S.,  XLV,  c.  273. 


•'r62  Thie  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

education  for  founding  schools  to  which  Dissenters  might  sub- 
scribe, or  to  give  its  adhesion  to  the  system  lately  propounded 
by  the  Church  that  the  Church  alone  should  conduct  the  edu- 
cation of  the  country. 

The  method  of  distributing  the  annual  parliamentary  grant 
of  £20,000  by  the  Lords  of  the  Treasury  had  proved  very  de- 
fective. For  six  years  the  money  had  been  distributed  through 
the  societies  and  it  was  practically  wasted.  Inasmuch  as  one 
half  of  the  sum  had  to  be  raised  by  local  efforts,  no  provision 
was  made  for  poor  localities  w^here  it  w^as  most  required.  The 
officials  of  the  Treasury  had  no  real  qualification  for  their 
w^ork.  No  care  w^as  taken  to  insist  on  good  school  buildings  or 
on  the  employment  of  efficient  teachers  and  no  inspection  of 
schools  w^as  enforced. 

The  unsatisfactory  results  caused  the  Chancellor  of  the  Ex- 
chequer on  July  5,  1838  to  submit  to  the  Treasury  Board  the 
expediency  of  procuring  more  detailed  information  than  be- 
fore concerning  schools  which  had  received  building  grants. 
He  also  recommended  that  a  model  school  be  erected.  '" 

But  the  Government,  influenced  by  Brougham's  suggestions, 
thought  it  best  that  persons  be  appointed  to  w^hom  the  gen- 
eral management  of  the  pltin  could  be  intrusted.  In  Novem- 
ber, I  838  Lord  Russell  had  made  up  his  mind  to  deal  with 
this  subject  and  had  drawn  up  a  scheme  which,  was  discussed 
in  the  cabinet  on  November  26.  '  He  thought  that  if  the 
board  appointed  were  composed  of  persons  of  different  persua- 
sions it  would  not  possess  the  confidence  of  the  Church.  It 
was  better,  therefore,  that  the  Government  should  form  the 
body — call  it  a  board  or  a  committee,  or  w^hat  they  would — 
not  from  any  one  religious  body  or  sect,  or  from  members  of 
various  sects,  but  from  the  official  servants  of  the  Crow^n,  w^ho 


"Ediin.  Rev.,  70:  154. 

^  Hajisard,  3  S.,  XLVIII,  c.  1313. 

"Early  Correspondeoiice  .ctf  Lord  Joitn  Russell,  Vol.  I,  p.  94. 


for  Education  in  England  103 

would  always  have  to  depend  upon  the  confidence  of  the 
House  of  Commons  and  who  would  have  to  look  to  them  to 
decide  whether  or  not  the  system  which  they  recommended 
was  such  as  should  be  supported.  He  proposed  that  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Privy  Council  and  other  Privy  Councillors,  being 
not  more  than  five  persons,  should  form  a  board,  who  should 
consider  in  what  manner  the  grants  should  be  distributed.  ^^ 
He  wrote  to  the  Marquis  of  Lansdov/ne,  President  of  the  Privy 
Council,  who  agreed,  with  the  other  official  persons  named, 
that  if  the  House  of  Commons  should  make  a  grant  for  that 
purpose,  he  would  conduct  the  measures  necessary  to  carry  the 
objects  proposed  by  the  Government  into  effect. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  session,  on  February  1  2,  '^  Russell 
explained  his  scheme  in  the  House  of  Commons:  a  grant  of 
£30,000;  a  Committee  of  the  Privy  Council  to  superintend  its 
administration;  inspection  of  the  schools;  and  a  normal  school 
for  the  joint  education  of  the  young  of  the  Established  Church 
and  of  the  various  sects.  In  this  model  school  the  Scriptures 
w^ere  to  be  read  and  Roman  Catholics  could  use  the  Douay 
version.  On  April  1  0  the  Queen  by  an  Order  in  Council  ap- 
pointed the  Committee  of  the  Privy  Council  to  administer  the 
money  that  would  be  voted  by  the  Commons.  * 

On  April  30  Russell  said  with  respect  to  the  disposition  of 
new^  sums  of  money  that  a  vote  w^ould  be  required  from  Par- 
liament before  the  Committee  would  feel  themselves  at  lib- 
erty to  proceed  with  any  further  arrangement  than  the  two  so- 
cieties. '  Accordingly,  the  Government  drew  up  a  separate 
estimate  for  the  purposes  of  education  so  that  the  attention  of 
the  House  could  be  invited  to  the  merits  of  the  scheme. 

But  the  plan  met  w^ith  abuse.  Melbourne  threw^  cold  w^ater 
on  it.     Lord  Stanley  in  a  long  speech  tried     to  overthrow     the 


«'  Hamslard,  3  S.,  XLV,  c.  273. 

^^  Early  Ooirreapon'denioe  lof  Lord  John  Russell,  Vol.  I,  p.  86. 
='  Hansard,  3  S.,  XLVIII,  c.  1313. 
'=IbM.,  3  S.,  XLVII,  c.  681. 


104  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

whole  project,  relying  upon  the  Church  as  the  only  teacher  of 
knowledge,  religious  and  secular.  The  Church  claimed  the 
exclusive  function  of  superintending  the  Christian  doctrines 
and  lessons  taught  in  schools;  of  selecting  the  books;  of  visit- 
ing the  classes  frequently;  of  examining  the  children,  especially 
in  their  catechism,  and  religious  progress,  and  of  counseling 
and  aiding  the  masters.  '" 

The  part  most  objected  to  was  the  permission  to  Roman 
Catholics  to  use  their  version  of  the  Scriptures  in  the  model 
school.  '  Petitions  in  opposition  poured  into  Parliament.  ^* 
Points  were  misunderstood  so  completely  that  Russell  con- 
cluded that  it  was  inadvisable  to  pursue  the  plan  for  the 
model  school  at  that  time  and  it  was  postponed.  ^^ 

In  the  report  of  the  Committee  of  the  Privy  Council,  ap- 
proved by  Order  in  Council  on  June  3,  it  was  recommended 
that  the  £10,000  granted  by  Parliament  in  1835  for  normal 
and  model  schools  be  given  equally  to  the  two  big  societies, 
instead  of  creating  a  normal  school  under  the  direction  of  the 
State.  The  remainder  of  the  grants  of  1  837  and  I  838  and  the 
grant  of  I  839  were  to  be  applied  chiefly  in  aid  of  subscriptions 
for  building  and  in  particular  cases  for  support  of  schools  con- 
nected with  the  societies.  The  rule  hitherto  adopted  of  mak- 
ing a  grant  to  those  places  w^here  the  largest  proportion  was 
subscribed  was  not  to  be  invariably  adhered  to  in  case  appli- 
cation be  made  from  very  poor  and  populous  districts.  Also 
grants  were  to  be  made  in  particular  cases  where  application 
was  not  made  through  the  societies.  The  power  of  inspection 
was  to  be  introduced  and  a  permanent  staff  of  inspectors  to 
be  appointed.  "" 

On  the  basis  of  the  report  the  grant  of  £30,000  w^as     car- 


^°  IbM.,  3  S.,  XLIX,  c.  324. 

"Edln.  Rev.,  70:154. 

'' Joiirntal  of  H.  af  C,  1839. 

=^*  Hansard,  3  S.,  XLVII,  c.  1378. 

«"rbid.,  3  S.,  XLVIII,  c.  1273. 


for  Education  in  England  103 

ried  on  June  2  1 ,  but  only  by  a  majority  of  two.  *"  In  the  House 
of  Lords  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  had  with  a  majority 
of  the  Lords  succeeded  in  having  a  set  of  resolutions  passed 
which  were  the  subject  of  an  address  to  the  Queen,  praying 
her  to  revoke  the  Order  in  Council. ""  The  basis  of  the  objec- 
tion was  a  constitutional  one.  Parliament  was  not  to  be  con- 
sulted with  respect  to  the  expenditure  of  the  public  money  to 
be  voted  for  this  purpose  and  instead  of  the  passage  of  any 
general  act  through  both  Houses  the  plan  was  to  be  effected 
by  some  bye  procedure.  It  was  said  that  this  was  too  im- 
portant a  measure  to  be  passed  in  that  way.  Finally,  the 
Bishop  of  London  suggested  a  compromise  and  Russell 
agreed  to  meet  with  the  Marquis  of  Lansdowne,  the  Arch- 
bishop and  two  bishops.  From  this  conference  a  treaty  re- 
sulted. 

F.     BiU  of  1839. 

Toward  the  progress  of  the  educational  plan  of  the  Govern- 
ment Brougham's  attitude  was  first  one  of  generosity,  then  of 
impatience  and  finally  intolerance.  On  February  1 4,  two 
dajrs  after  Russell's  explanafcion  of  the  scheme  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  in  asking  for  some  returns  made  by  Russell  in  that 
House,  he  said — "^ 

"He  could  not  but  take  that  opportunity  to  express  his  ex- 
treme satisfaction,  and  he  meant  it  most  heartily,  his  extreme 
satisfaction  at  the  course  taken  by  the  Government  in  direct- 
ing attention  forthwith  to  the  great  and  important  subject  of 
national  education.  This  gave  him  the  greatest  satisfaction, 
and  he  should  be  most  w^illing  to  enter  into  the  consideration 
of  the  plan,  that  they  should  think  proper  to  introduce,  with 
all  the  disposition  possible  to  support  that  plan.  This  was  a 
subject  to  which  he  had  paid  very  great  attention  for  the  last 


"Ear/ly  Correspondence  o'f  Lord  John  Russiell,  Vol.  I,  p.  86. 
'=  Hansard,  3  S.,  XLIX,  c.  308. 
•^  Ibid.,  3  S.,  XLV,  c.  350. 


1 06  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 


twenty  years  of  his  life, and  it  was,  therefore,  natural, 

that  he  should  feel  great  happiness  in  seeing  the  subject  taken 
up  by  the  Government.  Provided  the  object  he  had  in  view 
w^ere  attained,  he  did  not  care  by  what  channel,  or  through 
what  discourtesy  it  was  attained.  He  should  give  as  hearty 
and  as  effective  a  support  as  he  could  to  the  measure,  if  he 
could  approve  of  it  upon  examination,  as  if  it  w^ere  his  ow^n. 
His  noble  Friends  in  the  progress  of  the  measure  through  that 
House  should  have  all  the  benefits  of  his  experience  and  the 
assistance  of  his  zeal  and  he  thanked  them  heartily  for  having 
taken  the  subject  into  their  consideration." 

On  June  1  0,  Brougham  announced  that  he  would  no  longer 
refrain  from  pressing  forward  his  bill.  "  Nothing  could  be 
more  absurd  than  the  stories  going  forth,  that  the  ministry  was 
for  a  great  system  of  national  education.  His  bill  applied  it- 
self to  every  part  of  that  important  question.  As  far  as  the 
constitutional  question  was  concerned  Brougham  felt  that  the 
address  to  the  Queen  had  been  fully  justified  for  it  was  too 
important  a  measure  to  be  dealt  with  by  Order  in  Council. 

But  the  real  accomplishment  he  felt  had  been  small  cause 
for  alarm.  All  of  the  prelate's  speech  was  merely  on  account 
of  a  minister's  recognizing  the  doings  of  a  certain  function  by 
five  members  of  the  Privy  Council  w^hich  heretofore  had  been 
done  by  one;  namely,  superintending  the  distribution  of  the 
annual  parliamentary  grant  and  establishing  one  normal 
school,  this  last  having  been  abandoned. 

"I  complain  of  the  system  as  not  going  far  enough.  I  re- 
gret that  the  Government  in  deference  to  the  senseless  appre- 
hensions of  some — the  miserable  affectations  of  others — and 
the  foolish  prejudices  of  the  rest — have  pared  down  what 
ought  to  have  been  a  general  measure  for  the  education  of 
the  people,  into  a  mere  plan  for  founding  a  single  school  in 
London  and  appointing  a  Committee  of  their  own  body  to 
superintend  the  grant  of  £20,000  or  £30,000.     I  am  mortified 

"  Ibid.,  3  S.,  XLYIII,  c.  90. 


for  Education  in  England  107 


that  Parliament  is  not  ready  to  do  its  duty  to  the  people,  that 
after  twenty  five  years  spent  in  deploring  the  want  of  public 
instruction  in  this  country,  after  it  has  been  by  all  parties  con- 
fessed, that  the  people  of  England  are  less  educated  than 
those  of  Central  Europe,  and  only  better  educated  than  the 
people  of  Spain  or  Italy;  I  am  ashamed  of  our  inglorious  sin- 
guilarity  in  this  respect,  of  our  shameful  exception  to  the  char- 
acter of  the  age  in  which  we  live,  that  after  all  that  has     been 

confessed of  the  utter  inadequacy  of  our  present  means 

of  education,  that  all  we  have  been  able  to  'screw^  our  courage' 
to,  has  been  the  asking  Parliament  for  a  paltry  £30,000,  and 
appointing  a  committee  of  noblemen  to  distribute  it.  But  it  is 
still  more  mortifying  to  find,  that  there  exist  millions  in  this 
country  who  have  been  so  far  childish,  thoughtless,  and  unre- 
flecting, as  to  be  led  aw^ay  by  the  cry,  the  clamour,  the  vulgar 

exploded  outcry  of  danger  to  the  Established  Church! 

Who  ever  thought  of  introducing  any  general  system  of  educa- 
tion without  consulting  the  w^isdom  of  Parliament?  The  law 
stands  thus — the  Ministry  can  give  away  a  million  of  money 
to  any  person  they  please,  without  ever  asking  your  Lord- 
ships' consent.  All  they  have  to  do  is  to  have  a  vote  of  the 
other  House." 

He  expected  to  live — "To  see  the  Parliament  of  England 
perform,  at  length,  its  too  long-delayed  and  most  sacred  duty, 
of  giving  instruction  to  all  classes,  of  all  descriptions,  all  ranks, 
and  all  sects  of  people,  under  the  broad,  universal  and  eter- 
nal principles  of  religious  as  well  as  civil  liberty".  "" 

He,  therefore,  proceeded  on  July  1  5  to  move  for  the  sec- 
ond reading  of  his  bill. "''  This  bill  was  in  substance  the  same 
as  the  one  of  the  preceding  year.  The  recent  contention 
about  religion,  he  said,  should  be  the  occasion  of  much  satis- 
faction. Thirty  years  before  it  would  have  been  impossible  to 
get  such  an  assemblage  of  Lords  as  w^as  present  to  vote  on  the 
address  to  the  Crown.      In     this  controversy     raised     by     the 


Ibid.,  3  S.,  XLVIII,  c.  1313-24. 
Ibiid.,  3  S.,  XLIX,  c.  308. 


1 08  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

Church  he  was  of  the  opinion  that  if  secular  and  religious  in- 
struction would  not  combine  secular  alone  should  be  given 
rather  than  have  people  in  ignorance.  He  acknowledged  the 
rights  of  the  Church — he  granted  its  endov/ment  by  law — but 
law  did  not  say  that  the  people  of  England  should  not  be 
taught  secular  learning  w^ithout  the  superintendence  and  con- 
trol of  the  Church.  '  But  after  infinite  discussion  and  mature 
deliberation  he  had  realized  that  if  a  system  of  secular  edu- 
cation only  were  adopted,  teachers  of  religion  must  be  em- 
ployed, as  w^ell  as  those  instructors  w^ho  w^ere  originally  en- 
gaged, and  that  would  be  too  much  for  the  poor  to  afford. 

He,  therefore,  proposed  that  his  measure  should  provide 
that  it  should  not  be  law^ful  for  the  board  to  sanction  the  es- 
tablishment of  any  school  in  which  it  was  not  part  of  the  reg- 
ulations that  the  authorized  version  of  the  Scriptures  should 
be  taught.  Catholics  and  Jews  could  withdraw  their  children 
by  signifying  their  wish  in  writing.  In  addition,  he  proposed 
that  if  any  school,  the  local  directors  being  members  of  any 
sect,  should  choose  to  lay  down  as  part  of  its  rules  that  the 
catechism,  the  liturgy  and  the  Articles  of  the  Church  should 
be  taught,  the  board  should  be  allowed  to  sanction  the  estab- 
lishment of  that  school,  provisions  being  made  in  case  of 
children  not  members  of  ithe  Established  Church  analogous  to 
those  just  alluded  to.  "^ 

He  had  been  one  of  the  last  to  see  the  importance  of  com- 
bining religious  and  secular  education;  but  now  he  was  pre- 
pared to  say,  if  he  could  not  get  secular  instruction  unless  it 
were  coupled  with  a  kind  of  religious  information  which  he 
disapproved,  although  he  should  lament  that  it  was  so,  and 
he  wished  it  were  otherwise,  and  might  have  the  greatest  pos- 
sible desire  to  see  a  different  kind  given — yet,  so  great  was 
his  alarm  and  so  great  was  his  fear  of  the  bad  consequences  to 


•"Ibid.,  3  S.,  XLVII,  c.  764. 
"'IIM.,  3  S.,  XLIX,  c.  308. 


for  Education  in  Englemd  1 09 

the  morality  and  the  peace  of  society  likely  to  be  produced  by 
the  continuance  of  the  prevailing  ignorance,  that  he  should 
much  rather  have  them  taught  a  creed  that  he  disapproved 
than  not  taught  at  all.  He  himself  was  as  much  opposed  as 
any  man  to  all  sectarian  and  exclusive  principles  but  there  was 
nothing  which  he  so  much  desired  to  see  removed  as  igno- 
rance. "'  He  was  prepared  to  support  a  comprehensive  plan 
of  education  which  gave  some  superintendence  to  the  Church 
for  the  following  reasons: — (  I  )  There  must  be  some  superin- 
tendence and  the  Church  was  established.  (2)  It  was  the 
Church  of  the  majority.  (3)  It  was  one  and  the  sects  were 
many  and  so  it  was  possible  and  the  other  impracticable.  " 
He  considered  the  opinion  of  the  country  to  have  been  fully 
pronounced  in  favor  of  religious  education. 

The  bill  met  the  fate  of  the  preceding  ones  and  was  forced 
to  be  withdraw^n  on  account  of  the  lateness  of  the  session. 
But  Brougham  pointed  out  the  peculiar  position  in  which  the 
-whole  question  then  stood.  If  the  Lords  would  conclude  the 
session  with  a  resolution  to  proceed  next  session  by  a  bill 
they  would  perform  their  duty  in  a  manner  which  would  re- 
dound to  the  honor  of  Parliament,  and  to  the  credit  of  the 
Government.  Nothing  had  more  clearly  shown  the  progress 
of  the  question  than  the  debate  on  the  subject  this  session. 
One  inference  he  drew  from  this  debate  was  that  their  Lord- 
ships would  abdicate  one  of  their  greatest  privileges  if  they 
w^ere  longer  to  neglect  the  establishment  on  sound,  liberal, 
moral  and  religious  grounds  of  a  system  of  education  for  the 
people.  It  naturally  struck  him,  too,  that  if  he  were  to  bring 
in  his  bill  session  after  session,  he  was  keeping  exclusive 
possession  of  the  subject;  he  was  preventing  others  from  tak- 
ing it  up  who  would  come  to  the  work  with  forces  of  a  dif- 
ferent kind  to  back  them,  and  with  more  weight     in  the  com- 


•»  lihid.,  3  S.,  XUX,  c.  320. 
'Mbid.,  3  S.,  LXXXIX,  c.  869. 


The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 


munity  and  Parliament  than  he  could  pretend  to  have.  He, 
therefore,  thought  that  by  withdrawing  his  bill  he  would  do 
this  great  subject  the  best  service  in  his  power. 

"Therefore  it  is  that  I  have  come  to  the  resolution,  not  of 
abandoning  this  question — Heaven  forbid!  while  I  exist  that 
is  impossible,  so  woven  is  it  with  my  heart,  so  entwined  with 
my  very  nature,  that  1  could  not,  any  more  than  I  durst  if  I 
could,  forsake  it;  but  1  abandon  it  in  a  qualified  sense  of  the 
term.  I  withdraw  from  it  to  leave  others  more  powerful  to 
take  it  up.  I  give  it  over  to  my  noble  Friend  at  the  head  of 
the  Government.  Let  him  apply  his  vigorous  and  manly  un- 
derstanding to  the  subject.  Let  him,  with  all  the  resources 
at  his  command,  as  head  of  the  executive  Government,  let 
him,  with  all  the  assistance  of  the  supporters  of  the  Govern- 
ttient  in  this  House,  take  it  up,  according  either  to  those  prin- 
ciples, which  have  formed  the  ground-work  of  my  bill,  if  it 
so  please  him,  or  according  to  any  other  or  better  principles, 
if  he  prefers  them  on  reflection,  and  no  man  w^ill  be  more 
ready  to  give  up  any  share  in  promoting  this  great  proceeding 
than  I  shall.  Let  him  prepare  a  bill  founded  on  right  prin- 
ciples, and  propounded  in  an  enlightened  and  liberal  spirit, 
it  is  needless  to  say  with  w^hat  cordial  affection  I  shall  greet 
his  entering  on  such  a  course,  and  how  my  ancient  attachment 
■to  him,  which  has  never  been  altered,  will  revive  in  my  bosom 
and  will  make  me  hail  with  joy  his  taking  that  part  w^hich  his 
duty  prescribes  to  him,  but  which  his  interest  as  a  Minister 
ought  to  induce  him  to  take,  as  the  certain  means,  if  not  of 
carrying  this  great  measure,  of  encircling  his  Government  with 
a  glory  which  will  never  fade."  " 

The  fact  that  it  w^as  possible  for  others  to  take  the  helm  in 
the  education  movement  w^as  a  real  tribute  to  the  service  of 
Brougham.  What  had  been  able  to  stand  only  with  his  sup- 
port w^as  now^  able  to  stand  alone.  The  education  question 
had  become  a  popular  one.  The  national  conscience  had 
been  slowly  stirring  and  the  State  was  recognizing  the  prin- 
ciple that  it  should  be  responsible  for  the  education  of  the 
people. 

"  Ibild.,  3  S.,  L,  c.  592. 


for  Education  in  England  1  1  T 

It  was  an  act  almost  of  heroism  for  Brougham  to  yield  his 
place  as  dictator,  but,  since  political  influence  was  gone,  the 
cause  w^as  too  dear  to  his  heart  for  him  to  hinder  its  advance- 
ment through  a  stubborn  personal  claim  of  leadership.  He 
w^as  now  to  pass  into  the  position  of  an  independent  and  un- 
attached critic  of  the  measures  and  policies  of  other  men. 
G.      The  Social  Science  Association. 

Much  of  Brougham's  life  was  still  to  be  passed  where  he 
said  it  should  be,  in  his  place  in  Parliament.  Here  he  followed 
the  progress  of  education  with  a  keen  interest;  he  was  free 
with  his  comments  and  criticisms  and  often  nagged  to  action. 

During  the  last  decade  of  his  life  his  influence  in  the  cause 
of  education  was  exerted  mainly  through  the  activity  of  an  or- 
ganization of  which  he  was  the  principal  patron  and  guide. 
On  July  29,  185  7  the  "Social  Science  Association"  was  form- 
ed, the  committee  holding  its  first  formal  meeting  at  his  house 
in  Grafton  Street.  He  was  chosen  president  for  the  year  and 
delivered  the  inaugural  address  at  the  first  congress  at  Bir- 
mingham. He  held  this  office  again  from  1860  to  1865, 
then  became  president  of  the  council  for  a  year  and  finally 
was  one  of  the  vice-presidents  until  his  death  in   1  868.  '" 

The  wide  and  indefinite  scope  of  the  departments  of  the 
association,  including  Jurisprudence,  Education,  Punishment 
and  Reformation,  Public  Health,  Social  Economy,  and  Trade 
and  International  Law,  pleased  him  greatly  for  they  seemed 
to  represent  his  ow^n  diverse  interests. 

In  the  second  department  the  problem  of  middle  class  edu- 
cation w^as  given  most  prominent  attention.  '^  What  had  been 
done  on  the  part  of  the  Government  for  elementary  education 
had  had  no  effect  upon  the  middle  classes.  The  common 
media  of  instruction  for  their  children  were  boarding  and  day 


"  TramsajcttionB  of  tihe  Natiom'al  Asisodiatdon  too-  ttie  Proamoitioa  of  So- 
cial  Science,  1858-1868. 
"Ibid.,  1864,  p.  2-3. 


1 1 2  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

schools  opened  on  private  speculation  and  proprietary 
schools  belonging  to  a  number  of  persons  who  united  for  the 
purpose  of  securing  education  for  their  children.  But  the 
benefits  of  the  elementary  system  were  soon  seen  to  be  of  in- 
estimable value.  The  number  of  schools  planted,  the  pro- 
viding of  teachers  qualified  by  training  schools,  inspectors 
appointed  and  salaried  to  secure  the  performance  of  duties, 
the  qualifying  of  pupil-teachers  and  the  defraying  of  the  ex- 
pense of  employing  them — all  these  advantages  were  not  ex- 
tended to  the  middle  classes  who  paid  a  vast  proportion  of 
this  charge. 

In  1859  petitions  with  40,000  signers  had  been  presented 
in  both  Houses  of  Parliament  praying  that  a  greater  efficiency 
in  middle  class  school  teachers  might  be  obtained  by  a  sys- 
tem of  Government  inspection  with  certificates  of  merit.  * 
Brougham  made  the  matter  the  subject  of  his  addresses  to  the 
association  and  in  Parliament.  He  pointed  out  that  this  class 
w^hile  not  as  numerous  as  the  others  was  nevertheless  a  most 
important  body.  '  He  did  not  ask  that  the  Government 
should  compel  private  schools  to  submit  to  inspection  or  that 
Government  regulations  should  be  enforced  upon  them;  but 
w^as  anxious  that  some  means  should  be  adopted  w^hereby  the 
attention  of  the  teachers  in  ordinary  schools  might  be  invited 
to  the  immense  advantage  which  was  derivable  from  an  effi- 
cient system  of  inspection.  If  arrangements  w^ere  to  be  made 
for  permitting  all  who  entered  the  profession  to  be  trained  and 
for  granting  certificates,  which  might  have  the  effect  of  a  di- 
ploma or  a  degree,  the  character  of  the  teachers  would  be 
raised  and  the  schools  improved. 

The  answer  given  by  the  Government  to  the  petitions  of 
■which  Brougham  had  presented  one  hundred  and  tw^enty  was 


".Hansaird,  3  S.,  OLV,  c.  252. 

"  Tihe  worki'ing  classes  amouruted  to  ibetween  15  and  16  miillions ;  tlie 
■upper  dlasisies  to  above  3  mi/Llians;  and  'the  middle  (to  leisis  ittiani  1  mil- 
lllion.     Hansiard,  3  S.,  CLXXV,  c.  697. 

"aanisaird,  3  S.,  OLV,  -c.  252. 


for  Education  in  Engleuid  1  1  3 

that  the  Privy  Council  had  not  the  means  of  extending  the 
system.  "  But  Brougham  continued  to  press  the  subject  and 
in  1  864  introduced  a  deputation  sent  by  the  council  of  the  So- 
cial Science  Association  to  the  First  Lord  of  the  Treasury  urg- 
ing upon  him  the  prayer  of  the  petitioners,  that  the  Govern- 
ment would  apply  its  attention  to  the  subject.  '  A  discussion 
followed  which  showed  that  it  was  impossible  for  the  educa- 
tion of  the  middle  classes  to  be  undertaken  by  the  Govern- 
ment due  to  the  large  amount  of  patronage  which  it  would 
place  in  their  hands  and  on  account  of  the  expenditure  of  pub- 
lic money  on  those  who  could  themselves  afford  to  pay  for 
the  education  of  their  children.  '  Brougham  was  of  the  opin- 
ion that  a  commission  to  inquire  into  the  subject  might  render 
great  service  and  the  same  year  it  was  announced  in  Parlia- 
ment that  such  a  commission  would  forthwith  be  issued  on 
the  w^hole  subject  of  middle  class  education.  ^ 

At  the  congress  of  the  association  in  185  7  and  1858 
Brougham's  attention  had  been  directed  also  to  a  more  prac- 
tical side  of  education.  The  expediency  of  requiring  a  ca- 
pacity and  willingness  to  instruct  in  other  than  the  ordinary 
accomplishments  of  music  and  French  and  the  three  R's  w^as 
evident,  for  he  said: 

"There  is  an  absolute  necessity  for  changing,  in  important 
respects,  the  method  of  educating  female  children,  not  only  in 
the  humbler  but  the  better  part  of  the  working  classes.  They 
must  be  taught  things  which  are  of  use  to  them  in  after  life.  .  . 
A  good  system  of  rewards,  the  judicious  application  of  prizes, 
the  due  encouragement  to  successful  teachers  of  common 
things,  and  a  steady  determination  in  the  patrons  of  such 
schools  to  enforce  the  most  useful  teaching  in  the  first  in- 
stance, allowing  no  substitute  for  it,  may  put     an  end     to     a 


"  Tinamsactions  of  Nat.  Ass.  for  Pramotriion  of  Sooiail  iSciiem'oe,  1860. 
"  Ibid.,  1864,  p.  2.3. 
"  Hainaard,  3  S.,  CLXXVI,  c.  1877. 

^  Tnansaiationis  of  iNat.  Alas,  iflor  Pramotton  of     Sodi'aJl  Science,  1864, 
p.  2-3. 


1  1 4  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 


state  of  matters  which  has,  in  some  places,  produced  the 
greatest  difficulty  of  obtaining  servants  for  families  otherwise 
well  provided,  or  wives  for  w^orking  men  comfortably  cir- 
cumstanced." 

H.      Conclusion. 

It  could  truly  be  stated  of  Brougham  that  every  branch  of 
education  had  felt  his  touch.  It  was  said  at  this  time  that  he 
had  "grown  gray  in  talking  of  education".'*'  That  he  had 
grown  gray  w^as  true  but  that  he  had  merely  talked  of  educa- 
tion v^as  a  false  accusation. 

Tw^enty  years  before,  Samuel  Bamford,  the  Radical,  had 
declared: 

"Our  educators  are,  after  all,  the  best  reformers,  and  are 
doing  the  best  for  their  country,  w^hether  they  intend  so  or  not. 
In  this  respect.  Lord  Brougham  is  the  greatest  man  we  have. 
He  led  popular  education  from  the  dark  and  narrow^  crib  where 
he  found  it,  like  a  young  colt,  saddled  and  cruelly  bitted  by 
ignorance,  for  superstition  to  ride.  He  cut  the  straps  from  its 
sides  and  bridle  from  its  jaw^s,  and  sent  it  forth  strong,  beauti- 
ful and  free."  *' 

Brougham  had  lived  to  see  himself  considered  the  patriarch 
of  education.  A  second  patent  of  peerage  w^as  granted  him  in 
1  860,  w^ith  remainder  to  his  younger  brother  William  and  his 
heirs  male,  an  honor  conferred  in  recognition  of  his  eminent 
services  in  this  cause  and  that  of  the  suppression  of  slavery. 
In  the  same  year  he  was  made  Chancellor  of  the  University  of 
Edinburgh.  '* 

He  did  not  see  his  great  aim  of  a  national  system  of  educa- 
tion realized.      While  his  specific  plans  were  never  accepted 


«'Ibid.,  1860. 

"  Hamsard,  3  S.,  CLV,  c.  349. 

*^  Bamifotr/d,  Pasisageis  >in  itlie  Life'  of  a  Radiioal  and  Early  Days,  Vol. 
II,  p.  15. 

*^  Dictionary  of  National  Biograplny. 


for  Education  in  England  1  1  3 

in  ioio  when  presented,  so  much  practicability  was  there  in  his 
suggestions  that  they  w^ere  steps  in  the  slow^  evolution  of  a  sys- 
tem. The  most  important  improvements,  initiated  by  him, 
passed  into  the  hands  and  contributed  to  sw^ell  the  reputation 
of  men  whom  political  partisanship  or  accidental  circumstances 
had  rendered  for  the  time  more  powerful  in  Parliament. 

His  was  the  task  of  popularizing  education.  He  espoused 
the  cause  when  it  was  not  easy  to  be  a  friend  of  the  people  and 
by  so  doing  he  gave  the  movement  a  powerful  stimulus. 

He  was  ready  to  form  and  pronounce  judgments  while 
others  reached  only  the  threshold  of  questions.  *"  His  service 
to  education  can  best  be  summed  up  in  the  words  of  Glad- 
stone: 

"It  seemed  as  if  a  certain  instinct  led  Lord  Brougham  con- 
tinually to  deviate  from  the  path  of  mere  party  politics  for  the 
purpose  of  anticipating  the  wants  of  coming  generations  and 
preparing  the  paths  which  after-conning  men  were  to  tread."  *' 


'''Eraser's,  44:  460. 

"'Hansard,  3  S.,  CXCIII,  c.  1834. 


i 


1 1 6  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

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1  1 8  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

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Publications,  Vol.    1,  2,   3.  London      1837,      1838, 

1839. 
H.      The  Manufacturing  Population  of      England.      By     P. 

Gaskell.      London,    1833. 
I.      National  Education,  Its  Present  State     and      Prospects. 

By  Frederick  Hill.     2  volumes.     London,    1836. 

J.  Essay  on  Literary,  Scientific  and  Mechanics'  Institu- 
tions. By  James  Hole.  Published  under  sanction 
of  Society  of  Arts,  London,    1853. 

K.  English  National  Education.  By  H.  Holman.  London, 
1898. 

L.  State  Intervention  in  English  Education.  By  J.  E.  G. 
de  Montmorency.  Cambridge  University  Press, 
1902. 

M.  London  University.  By  James  Bass  Mullinger,  in  1  1  th 
edition  of  Encyclopaedia  Britannica.       1910-191  1. 

N.  England  in  1835.  By  Frederick  von  Raumer;  trans- 
lated from  German  by  Sarah  Austin  &  H.  E.  Lloyd. 
Philadelphia,    1836. 

O.  Infant  Schools  their  History  and  Theory.  By  David 
Salmon  and  Winifred  Hinshaw.     London,   1  904. 


124  The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 

P.  Four  Periods  of  Public  Education  as  reviewed  in 
1832.  1839,  1846,  1862.  By  Sir  James  Kay  Shut- 
tleworth.     London,    1 862. 

Q.  Public  Education  as  affected  by  the  Minutes  of  the 
Committee  of  Council,  from  1846  to  1852.  By  Sir 
James  Kay  Shuttleworth.     London,    1853. 

R.  The  Social  Condition  and  Education  of  the  People. 
By  Sir  James  Kay  Shuttleworth.      London,    1850. 

S.  History  of  the  Middle  and  Working  Classes.  By  John 
Wade.     London,    1835. 

VI.      Bibliographical  Aids. 

A.  A  Bibliographical  List  of  Lord  Brougham's     Publica- 

tions arranged  in  Chronological  Order.  By  Ralph 
Thomas.     London,   1873. 

The  lisit  was  comipileid  expnesisily  for  Messrs. 
A.  &  C.  Black's  editiion  of  Lord  Bnougliaim's 
Worklsi. 

B.  Bibliography  of  Education.     By  Will     S.  Monroe.     In- 

ternational Education  Series  edited  by  Wm.  T. 
Harris,  Vol.  42.     New  York,   189  7. 

C.  Catalogue  of  Parliamentary  Reports  and  a  Breviate  of 

their  Contents,  1696-1834.  Ordered  by  House  of 
Commons  to  be  printed,  August  15,  1834.  Lon- 
don,   1836. 

D.  Digest  of  the  Parliamentary  Papers     for  the     Session, 

1837-1838.  Compiled  by  John  Henry  Barrow. 
London,   1839. 


INDEX 


Adams,  Dr.,  head-master    of  Edin- ' 
burgh  High  School,  1. 

Address  to  Queen,  1839,  105. 

Adult  education,  55;  advioicated  in 
Brougham's  "Practical  Observa- 
tions", 58;  absence  of  Govern- 
menit  assistance  for,  59. 

Bell,  Dr.  Andrew,  sohooils  of  Na- 
eioinal  Society  based  on  ideas  of, 
12. 

Birkbeck.  Dr.,  Professor  of  Na- 
tu:ial  Philics!:iphy  at  Anders'onian 
University,  55;  starts  course  of 
lectures  for  working  men.  1800. 
56;  one  of  founders  of  Society  for 
the  Diffusii'OB  of  Useful  Kncwl- 
edge.  66. 

Book  clubs,  suggesited  as  means 
C'f  adult  eduoat:l-n,  61. 

Britis'h   Almanac,   69. 

British  and  Foreign  Soho-ol  Sc'Ciet^-. 
5;  formaition  of,  10;  prinoi'piles  of. 
10;  terms  of  admissicn  to,  in. 
10;  Brougham  takes  chair  at 
meeiting  of,  in  1835,  12;  educati' 'n 
graints  to  be  dliisit'libuted  by,  83. 

Brougham,  Henry,  early  life  of,  in 
Edinburgh,  1;  beginning  of  resi- 
dence of,  in  London,  5;  member 
oif  Royal  Lanoasitriian  Associa- 
tion, 9;  enitrance  of,  into  Parlia- 
ment, 10;  resolution  for  fl:rma- 
tion  of  British  and  Foreign 
School  Society  moved  by,  10; 
est  rang  em  e  nit  of,  from  British 
and  Foreign  School  Society  in 
1820,  11;  chairman  of  meeting  cif 
Britisih  and  Foreign  School  So- 
cety  in  1835,  12;  estimate  of 
Lanoasiter's  work  given  by,  12; 
takes  lead  in  cause  of  education, 
13;  given  seat  in  Parliament  for 
W'injcheteea  in  1815,  14;  chair- 
mam  of  committee  to  inquire  into 
eduOaltton  of  the  lower  crders  of 
itlhe  metropolis  in  1816,  15; 
icbairman  of  select  coimmittee 
on  education  in  1817,  19;  oh  air- 
man of  education  committee  of 
1818,  20;  first  report  of  commit- 
tee of  1818  made  by.  21;  motion 
floir  chartilty  commission  made  bv, 
23;  bill  for  charitw  commission 
presented  by,  23;  defends  bill  in 
'Committee  of  wfhole,  24;  attitude 
'Off,     toward       amendments       in 


House  of  Lords,  26;  motion  by, 
for  addresses  to  Prince  Regent, 
27,  28;  desires  to  be  charity 
oomimjissioner,  not  imcluded  in 
chaaiity  oommisision,  30;  iinvosti- 
gatilon  of  higher  scihools  in  1818 
by,  31;  commenits  of,  on  Chari- 
table Foundations  Bill  in  1819. 
36;  Peel's  oi-iitidism  of,  37;  de- 
fense of,  against  Peel,  38; 
petitions  of  Robent  Owen  pre- 
sented by,  50;  admii-aition 
of,  for  Owien,  50;  visits  Ow- 
en's infant  school,  52;  oipin- 
ion  of  the  infant  (School  giv- 
en by,  52;  visits  FeiHenbeirg's 
establishment  at  Hofwyl,  52; 
helped  establisih  infant  ischool  at 
Brewer's  -Green,  53;  patron  cf 
London  Mechamacs'  Instiitute, 
57;  "Pnaatical  ObservaltiO'Us  on 
the  Education  of  the  Peopile"  by, 
58;  interest  in  niecibanias'  insti- 
tutes, 65;  plan  of,  f:r  ano-nymous 
lectures,  65 ;  formed  coimmiilttee 
for  founding  the  Society  for  the 
Diffusio'n  of  Useful  Knowledge, 
66;  contributions  oif,  to  the  so- 
c'iety,  67,  70;  eflfeot  !cif  the  pat- 
ronage 'Ot,  70;  suggests  forma- 
tion of  Londoin  Uniivensiity,  73; 
application  for  charter  made  by. 
76;  returned  to  Parliament  for 
York  in  1830,  79;  received  great 
seal,  79;  secured  first  educaltion 
grant,  82;  favored  voluntary 
system,  84;  icipposed  to  compul- 
sory education,  81.  96;  favored 
establlishment  of  normal  schools, 
86;  favored  repeal  of  "taxes  on 
knowledge".  86.  89;  gave  evi- 
dence on  Libel  Law,  87;  deprived 
of  cihancellorship,  90;  presented 
14  resolutil^ins,  91;  ipropoised  a 
board  of  education,  93,  98;  pre- 
sented education  bills  in  1837  & 
1838,  94;  bills  of,  defeiated  bv 
Church  of  England  in  1838,  lOo"; 
attitude  of,  toward  Lord  John 
Russell's  plan.  105;  presented 
bill  in  1839,  106;  attitude  of,  to- 
ward r^ligioius  instruotjcin,  107; 
withdrew  from  education  ques- 
tion, 110;  helped  establisih  So- 
cial Science  Assiociation,  111; 
presented  petitions  to  ParQiament 
for  .middle  class  educaitnon,  112- 


126 


The  Work  of  Lord  Brougham 


made  Ohancellor  of  Uinivensity 
of  Ediinburgh,  114;  GladfSttfoine's 
©stiniiate  of,  114. 
Buehaman,  James,  guardi'an  of  in- 
fant school  at  New  Lanark,  51: 
■miasiter  at  imfianlt  siohiool  -at 
Brewer's  Green,  53. 

Charity  Comimissiion,  suggested,  17; 
bill  for,  in  1818,  20,  21,  23;  op- 
position to  ^blH  foir,  oiutsade  of 
PariMamemt,  23;  aauendmenjts  to 
bill  foT,  in  House  lOif  Lords,  25; 
reapipointed,  fn.  39;  Brougham 
chairman  of,  in  1836  &  1837,  fn. 
39. 

Charity  sohoolsi,  endowed,  7;  un- 
endlawed,  7;  for  workitng  class es, 
7. 

Cha/ritable  Foundaibijotns  Bill,  1819, 
iimtroduced  by  Lord  Castlereagh, 
35;   prioviisionis  of,  35. 

Com,miittee  of  the  Privy  Council  on 
'Bduioation,  101;  'propoised  by 
iLord  John  Rusisell,  102. 

Commlilttee  on  the  Eduoaition  of 
ithe  Lower  Orders  of  the  Meitnop- 
olis,  1816,  15;  Brouigiham,  cihair- 
mian  of,  15;  aircuilar  letter  semit 
by,  15;   reports  of,  17-18. 

Cfomipanliloin  ito  the  Ailraanac,  69. 

Dame  schools,  for  workling  clasisies, 
7,  8;  anlferior  t/o,  injfant  schools, 
53. 

Depantmenit  of  Piiblilc  Instructd'on, 
proposed  by  Broiigtham,  94,  98. 

Edinburgh  Review,  flirsit  oomtribu- 
tors  Ito,  3;  Brougham's  oonitri- 
'butions  to,  3,  5;  dhamnel  for 
publication  of  Brougtham's  views, 
4;  artliole  loff  H."ougiham  in,  Oc- 
tober, 1824,  58. 

Bdiniburgh  .Sooielty   of  Arts,   56. 

Bdiicat'ion,  is'tatlisltios  in  regard  to, 
6,  14,  41;  means  of,  for  wealthy 
Persians,  middle  dlasses  and 
working  classes,  6. 

Education  Bill  of  1820,  39;  un- 
fortumiaJlJe  moment  for  presenita- 
tifOin  of,  40;  four  heads  of,  42; 
power  given  to  Church  of  Eng- 
land in,   47;    opposition   to,     47; 

Educatio:n  Bill  of  1837  &  of  1838, 
94;    of  1839,  105. 


Education  Digest,  begun,  32;  par- 
tially completed,  40. 

Elementary  education,  14;  peti- 
ti:inis  for,  in  1833,  80;  in  1837, 
95;  invesitigatiom  of  isitalte  of,  by 
Lord  Kerry's  Commdsision,  80; 
Mr.  Roebuck's  motion  fior,  81; 
first  money  grant  for,  83; 
Drougfham  presents  fourteen 
resolutions  on,  91;  Ooimmititee  of 
Privy  Coiuncil  on  Education  for 
supervision  of,  101. 

Endowments,  old  education,  bill  for 
improvwment  of,  49;  bill  defeat- 
ed, 49. 

Establisihed  Church,  oonltrloil  of, 
over  educaition  recommended  in 
1818,  34;  powers  given  to,  by  bill 
of  1820.  47;  oppnsliition  of,  to  bill 
of  1838,  100. 

Pac'tory  schools,  flor  working 
cla,sises,  6;  influeince  of  Factory 
Act  of  1802  on,  7. 

Farmers'  book  clubs,  64. 

Farmers'  Series,  in  Library  of 
Useful    Know^leidgie,    69. 

Gliasigow  Medhanlios'  Intslt*iltutio/n,  56. 

Home  and  Colonial  Intent  Scihcol 
Sodieity,  54. 

Infant  sdhooil,  50;  esitaiblislhied  by 
Owen  at  New  Lanark,  50;  Fel- 
lenberg's,  52;  at  Breweir's  Green, 
Wesibminlslter,  53;  success  of 
Brougham's.  54;  assisitance  of 
Government  flor,  not  esisenitial, 
54;   a  preventive  of  crime,  92. 

Journal  of  Education,  69. 

King'is  CoHlege,  pHinOiplels  of,  77; 
fflaunded,  77. 

Lancaster,  Joseph,  school  of,  at 
Borough  Roiad,  5;  Royal  Lancas- 
trian Association,  formed  to  as- 
iSiisit.  9;   sichooil  of.  at  Tooting,  10. 

Leotures,  suggested  ats  means  of 
adullt  educati)?in,  61;  not  to  be 
gratuitous,  62;  plan  for  anony- 
mous, 65. 

Liibraries,  suggested  as  a  means  of 
adult  education,  61-  spread  of, 
63. 


for  Education  In  Elngland 


127 


Library  of  Entertaining  Knowledge, 
68. 

Library  of  Useful  Knawledge,  67. 
Loclh,  James,  friend  of  Eroiigham, 
2,  4. 

London  Mechjaoiiics'        Insititiite, 

founded,  56;  tOieaiter  bu(il/t  for,  57. 

London  Universiilty,  73;  suggested 
by  Broiigiliam  in  "Pnaotlcal  Ob- 
serva/tiions",  73;  plan  for,  75;  ob- 
ject of,  75;  chairter  of,  applied 
for,  76;  opentog  of,  77;  action 
of,  limited  to  institution  of  ex- 
aminaitJons  and  conferring  of  de- 
grees. 78. 

Mechanics'  inisltitute,  the,  relation 
of  Dr.  Birkjbeck's  wiork  to.  55: 
of  1817  .in  Lonidiom,  56;  spread  of, 
63;  ournioulum  of.  64;  Bro-ugh- 
am's  inter esit  dn.  65;  oppositicn 
(to.  70-72;  declliine  of,  72;  of  Man- 
chester, Brouglhaim'ia  address  to. 
72. 

IVTisaip plication  of  charitaible  funds, 
repctT^ted  to  eduaaititon  commat- 
tees,  17,  20,  21. 

Monli/toriial  systeM,  coniti1?iversy  as 
to  origin  of.  12. 

Natioimal  9oci'e(ty,  founded.  11- 
principles  'of,  11;  terms  of  ad- 
miissJon  to,  fn.  11;  educaltion 
graiuts  to  be  distributed  by,  83. 

Owen,  Robert,  "New  Vdew  of  So- 
ciety" by,  50;  petitio'us  of,  to 
PaiTliamant,  50;  explanation  of 
system  of  schools  by,  to  educa- 
tion commiilttee  in  1816,  51;  "New 
Institution"  of,  at  New  Lanark. 
51;  infant  scboiol  of,  51. 

Peel,  Sir  Robert,  oriticize«  Broug- 

liam  in  Parliamenit,  37. 
Peniny  Cyoliopaedlia,  70. 
Penmy  Magazine,  70. 
Place,  Francis,  observations  of,  on 

opportunities  for  education,     74; 

oppotsaltion    of,      ^tioi      "taxes    on 

knowledge",    87. 
"Practical     Observations     on     the 

Education  of  the  People",  58. 
Religions   insitruction.     Brougham's 

attitude  toward,  in  1839,  108. 


Romilly,  Sir  Samuel,  bill  of,  in 
1812,  22;  hetlps  to.  prepare  bill 
for   charity    conimlsslion,    23. 

Russell,  Lord  John,  proposes  Com- 
mittee of  Privy  Council  on  Edu- 
cation, 102;  scheme  of  education 
explained  by,  103;  poetpoines 
plan  flor  model  sohoioil,  104. 

Schoods  of  industry,  for  woirkiijng 
classes,  6,  7. 

Select   Comanittee     on     Education, 

1817,  appointed,  19. 

Select  Committee  on  Bducatilon, 
1818,  appoiinted,  20;  inquiry  of, 
to  embrace  England,  Scotland 
and  Wales,  20;  reports  of,  21, 
31;  investigates  hiiglher  schools, 
31;  plans  of,  foir  universall  edu- 
cation, 32. 

Social  Science  Association,  111; 
Brougham,  president  and  chief 
patron  of.  111;  scope  of  depart- 
ments of.  111;  advocates  im- 
provement of  miiddle  class  edu- 
cation, 111. 

Si:c.ielties  for  the  promotion  of  con- 
versation, suggested  as  means  of 
-adult  education,   61. 

Soiciety  for  the  Diffuslion  of  Useful 
Kttowtledige,  formation  of,  66; 
publications  of,  67-70;  oipposiitilon 
to.  70. 

Society  floir  the  Promotion  of 
Chrisltia.n  Knjoiwledge,  estaWisih- 
ment  of  unendowed  chaaliity 
schools  by,  7. 

Special  visitors,  chanities  wiith, 
exempted  from  inveatigaition,  26. 

Sunday  Schooil  movement,  inaugu- 
rated by  Robert  Raikes,  7. 

"Taxes  on  Knowledge",  86;  oppo- 
isdtion  t:,,  by  Francis  Place,  87; 
Broughami's  evidence  against,  87; 
reduced  in  1836,  89. 

Universities,  restriictions     of     edu- 
cation at  the,  74. 
University  OoMege,  London,  78. 

Wh'it bread,  educaition  bill  of,  in 
1807,  13,  39;  subsiiding  of  preju- 
dices agaiinst,  40. 

Wildenspin,  teiacher  of  infant 
school  at  Spitailflields.  54. 

Young,  May.  guardian  of  inifant 
school  at  New  Lanark,  51. 


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